The 12 Days of Shipmas
by LittleRose13
Summary: Posting a Christmas fic every other day, beginning 2nd December and finishing on Christmas Eve. Ships include: Hinny, Scorbus, Drastoria and Tedtoire. See my tumblr for the full list of prompts.
1. Hedwig the Second

_Prompt: Christmas gifts_

 _25th December, 2010_

"Has Father Christmas been, Mummy?" six-year-old James asked innocently, running into the kitchen, his brother and sister close behind him.

"Well, I think I heard someone coming down the chimney last night," Ginny replied to her three children. Albus' eyes shone with a delight and excitement that only a four-year-old could manage as James darted towards the living room.

"Father Christmas came down the chimney?" Albus asked, astounded.

"Yep," Harry put in. "That's how he gets in to deliver your presents."

Albus' mouth became a little o of wonder then changed to confusion. "But how does he fit?"

"It's magic!" little Lily exclaimed and Albus giggled.

"Come on, slowcoaches!" James yelled from the living room door. Lily attempted to run towards him to prove that she wasn't a slowcoach, her face alive with excitement. Albus followed at a slower pace, holding Ginny's hand.

James carefully eased the door open a crack and peered round. The little family made their way into the living room, following James.

"What's he left for you?" Harry asked his children in an enthusiastic voice, watching their faces at the contents of the room. Two toy broomsticks lay side by side next to a miniature trampoline with a handle.

"Bwoomsticks and a twampoline!" Albus proclaimed loudly, gazing at them in delight but not daring to go closer. It was little Lily who decided that it was time to test out her Christmas present. She ran forwards in her pink pyjamas and threw herself onto the small trampoline, clinging onto the handle and bouncing repeatedly. Harry and Ginny exchanged looks of relief; they had been worried that Lily would be indignant at not receiving a broomstick too.

Following their sister's lead, James and Albus both picked up their toy broomsticks, examining them from every angle. Just as James tried to mount his, Harry took his arm to stop him.

James looked up at his father, offended. "You can try them out later, when we've cleared a space," Harry told him and James looked as if that was the answer he had expected.

"So do you think Father Christmas couldn't fit these in your stockings?" Ginny asked her children, kneeling down beside her sons. James and Albus laughed but Lily cried "Nooo!" from the trampoline, not understanding the joke.

She leaned over the handle bar and spotted the large pile of Christmas presents stacked under the tree. She pointed at them as if they weren't visible to anyone else in the room.

"Ooh I got presents dere, look everybody!" Lily stated, the trampoline now forgotten as she clambered off.

"Yes, those are your Christmas presents," Ginny said, holding tightly to the back of the broom James was still trying to mount.

"Can we open them now?" Albus asked politely and James nodded.

"Of course we can," said Harry, moving towards the tree to help. "See if you can find one with your name on it," he said, really talking to his two sons as he was certain that, at two and a half, Lily couldn't recognise her name yet and would need help with reading the labels.

Lily herself obviously saw no problem as she immediately dived for the pile of presents, grabbing the first one she came to. "Dat says Lily!" she announced carrying it over to the small coffee table in the centre of the room. "I will open it up," she told the room at large whilst trying to find a way to get into the paper with her small hands.

"Does it say Lily?" Harry asked his small daughter while he helped Albus open his first present, the young boy jumping up and down in his pyjamas with excitement. Lily reacted to Harry's question by putting her hands on her hips and giving her father an indignant look.

"Yes it does!" she replied. Harry looked at Ginny who was closer and proceeded to check the label of the gift Lily was attempting to open.

"No it doesn't," she told her daughter, unsurprised. "That one says James. Let's see if we can find one with your name on." So she took her daughter's hand, intending to help her find one of her own presents. But Lily didn't want to be helped and once again picked up the first present she could see.

"I'll have dis one!" she stated, carrying it towards her mother. "Dis one says me."

Ginny checked the label. "That one says James as well." She was struggling not to laugh at her daughter's expression of stubbornness.

"Cool, a toy wand!" James shouted, waving it triumphantly above his head and watching harmless, coloured sparks fly from the tip. He had just opened the first present Lily had insisted was hers. Lily watched him glumly.

"This one's for you, Lily," Albus said quietly, holding out a neatly wrapped package to his sister. He had just opened a set of Quidditch action figures and was inspecting them proudly.

"Fanks, Al," Lily whispered and her parents looked at each other, shocked that she had thanked him without the usual prompt of 'What do you say?'. She held the present in both hands, looking at in awe.

"Let's see the label," Harry said, gently turning it towards him while still in his daughter's hands. "For Lily," he read out. "To wish you a happy Christmas, with lots of love from Grandma Molly and Granddad Arthur."

Lily looked gleeful and she took the present from her father's hand, showing it to the whole room. "Dis is from Grandma Molly and Granddad Arthur!" she announced proudly, holding it high above her head. Lily was at that age where everything she said was for the benefit of an audience.

Her parents exchanged amused looks while her brothers looked up momentarily before looking back at their own presents. Albus had just discovered he had also been given a toy wand and Harry wondered how long it would be before they had to enforce strict rules on the use of the wands.

James unwrapped a knitted red jumper with a golden snitch stitched onto the front, his expression torn between excitement and disgust at the present. "Do I have to wear it?" he asked his mother pleadingly.

"You have to wear it when we all go to The Burrow this afternoon. After that it's your choice." Ginny laughed at her son's look of relief. "But Christmas wouldn't be Christmas without Grandma Molly's Weasley jumpers."

Harry laughed as he spotted two squashy packages in the same wrapping paper with his and Ginny's names on. Apparently you were never too old for a Weasley jumper.

After Albus opened his own jumper (green with a picture of a broomstick on the front), the family realised Lily had still not managed to open her first present that she had been so happy to receive. Her little hands scrabbled at the paper before Harry took pity on her and tore the corner off to get her started.

She ripped the paper off surprisingly carefully and looked at what was inside. "Wow!" Lily said, holding the gift up so everyone could see.

Instead of a knitted Christmas jumper, Lily held a small, stuffed, knitted toy owl. It had snow white wings and a little orange beak, complete with beady eyes and little claws at the bottom. Harry had a sneaking suspicion as to where the inspiration of this owl had come from to Mrs Weasley.

"Isn't that lovely Lily?" Ginny asked her daughter who looked overjoyed and hugged the little toy.

"Hey Dad, it looks like your owl from when you were at school!" James cried, remembering a picture he'd seen in the photo album of Harry, Ron and Hermione in their first year accompanied by Hedwig.

"I think you're right there James," Harry told his son.

"Daddy, what was your owl's name?" Lily asked innocently.

"She was called Hedwig," Harry told her from where he was still sat under the Christmas tree next to Albus.

"Hedwig." Lily tested the name out in her little voice. "I'm gonna call my owl Hedwig too," she said simply and ran around the room making Hedwig 'fly' behind her.

And Harry thought it odd that, back at the start of the war when he had been so devastated at Hedwig's death, he had no idea that he would one day be watching his two-year-old daughter run around with a knitted replica of his beloved owl.

* * *

 **Find me on tumblr littlerose13writes to see the full list of prompts for the 12 Days of Shipmas, happy December!**


	2. Decorations Don't Have Names

_Prompt: Christmas tree decorating_

 _9th December, 2013_

A large space had been cleared in the Potter's living room and the three children stood round it expectantly. The door opened revealing the end of a large cardboard box closely followed by Harry's face.

Lily ran excitedly to the doorway and attempted to help carry the enormous box causing her mother to smile at her from where she was carrying the back end of the box. The boys watched from afar.

"We can put it here, Daddy!" Lily announced, gesturing to the space her brothers stood around and they nodded happily in agreement.

"Help me open this box then," Ginny said from the floor where she was beginning to untie the fastenings on the huge box. Lily ran to assist her and Harry started undoing the fastening on the other end of the box. James and Albus were busy looking into the decorations box.

"I've already chosen my first decoration. You should choose yours too, Al," James said bossily to his younger brother. Albus glanced at the small, carved hippogriff on a string in James' hand.

"But _that_ was the decoration I wanted to choose first," he stated glumly, knowing his brother would get to hang it on the tree as he was two years older.

"Well this one's taken; you can have this one though." He dived into the box and emerged with a sparkly pixie decoration that released glitter showers every time it moved.

"Yuck, no! That's a _girl_ decoration," Albus said and he physically backed away from the contents of James' hand.

"There's no such thing as boy and girl decorations, we've talked about this." Ginny sighed. "Anyway, you love glitter, Al."

Albus gave her a sulky look and Ginny suspected the rejection of the pixie decoration had all been an attempt to impress his big brother - Albus completely idolised James.

"Hey! Give Pixie to _me_ ," Lily commanded as she scrambled up from the floor and grabbed the decoration, showering James with glitter in the process.

"Lily!" James shouted angrily as he brushed his hair of glitter.

"Don't fight over the decorations guys. There's plenty in there for all of you," Ginny told them. Albus was still sulking so she stood up and made her way to the decorations box, inspecting its contents.

"How about this one, Al?" she asked after a minute of searching. It was a bright red dragon decoration that breathed harmless, small flames when hung on the tree.

"Yeah!" Albus cried enthusiastically, bounding over to his mother and gently taking the dragon from her hand. "I love dragons."

"I don't…" Harry muttered from where he had finally managed to open the box.

James' face fell. "Oh but I wanted that one too! That's from Uncle Charlie isn't it?" He swung the hippogriff from his finger, giving it an evil look.

"James, Hippy is from Uncle Charlie as well," Lily responded exasperatedly whilst bouncing around Harry and urging him to get the Christmas tree out.

 _Hippy_. Why did Lily insist on giving all the Christmas tree decorations _names_? James found it incredibly annoying.

"Hippy the Hippogriff? That's a stupid name. This is my decoration and I say he doesn't have a name," he commanded maturely.

"Here it is," Harry announced as he stood back to show a large, green, artificial tree laying on the ground. They used to always have a real Christmas tree in the house until three Christmases ago when they discovered that James, who was six at the time, was allergic to them. The poor boy had spent most of Christmas day dosed up on Sneezing Potion before they'd worked out what the problem was.

Lily was looking at the tree in awe, still clutching her pixie decoration. "How does it go up?" she asked loudly. Everyone turned to look at Harry.

"That's simple. _Constructo_!" He pointed his wand at the tree which was lying on the floor forlornly. Nothing happened.

"I'm not Hermione or anything, but I don't think that spell is designed to work on muggle Christmas trees," Ginny said laughing and the children looked between them with disappointed faces.

"Ok then, _you_ try," Harry joked, passing her her own wand.

"Ok, I will." Ginny gave him a cheeky grin and replaced her wand onto the table where it had previously resided. She approached the dismantled tree and considered the pieces for a second before selecting one and snapping it into the base unit.

Harry watched with an annoyed look on his face as she placed the remaining section of the tree on top so the two clicked together and stood back to reveal a towering, perfect Christmas tree.

"Cool," said Albus.

"Yay, Mummy!" Lily applauded.

"Sometimes the Muggle way is the easiest way," Ginny said casually, feeling very proud of herself.

"Well I could've done that…" Harry muttered.

"Decoration time!" Lily cried and she ran forward to hang her beloved pixie on one of the branches.

"No Lily, we're not having your stupid girly decorations on the tree. Cool ones only." James ordered, replacing the pixie with his own hippogriff and throwing the pixie to the ground in a cloud of disappearing glitter.

"James," Ginny reprimanded in a warning tone from where she was opening a box of baubles decorated with different Quidditch designs. "If you can't be nice to your sister, you won't get to join in."

"Mine's cool!" Albus stated as he too ran towards the Christmas tree and proudly placed the dragon on a branch.

"Pixie _is_ cool," Lily told him stubbornly, her eyes filling up with tears. "Why can't she be on the tree? It's not fair, Daddy." Lily picked up the pixie and ran to Harry, sniffing miserably.

"James, let your sister put her decorations on too. It's everyone's Christmas tree." Lily brightened up immediately as she replaced Pixie onto the tree.

"I've taught her well," Ginny muttered to Harry, nodding her head to Lily who was happily picking out the pinkest, most sparkly and girly decorations she could find and deliberately putting them next to wherever James put his own decorations.

"You fell for the fake tears too," she added mischievously to Harry who looked shocked.

"They were fake? How do you know?" he asked her.

"Harry, I grew up with _six_ brothers. I know everything about being a little sister. She used the Daddy card too."

"Daddy card? She always calls me Daddy."

"She's got you _right here,_ " Ginny said, twirling her little finger around.

Harry scoffed. "That is just not true. Anyway, you're hardly one to talk."

Ginny put her hands on her hips and surveyed him as Lily dived between her legs for a stray decoration. "Meaning?"

"You can't say no to Al," Harry said smugly. They both watched as their younger son demurely placed a decoration on the tree, ignoring his siblings who were squabbling over who would get to put the angel on the top of the tree. His dark hair was on the neater side for once and his green eyes were alive with excitement.

"Look at him, he's you in miniature. He's adorable." Ginny walked over and pulled Albus in for a quick hug. He was startled, a decoration still in his hand, but he hugged her back.

"That's exactly what it's like with Lily," Harry muttered, watching his red-haired daughter twirl around on the spot, making her dress fly out around her.

"It's finished!" she cried, running at Harry and requiring him to employ his Auror reflexes rather quickly to protect himself from injury. Instead, he caught her and lifted her up into the air where she screamed in delight.

"Is it time for the fairy lights?" Albus asked excitedly.

"Fairy lights, fairy lights!" Lily squirmed to be put down.

Harry withdrew a large jar from beside the fireplace which contained several golden fairies, happily whizzing about. They'd purchased them from Diagon Alley just that morning and Lily had already named them all.

With the jar open, Lily was able to gently lower her hand inside and she squealed with delight as five fairies climbed onto the palm of her hand and she withdrew it. She rested her hand open on a branch of the tree and the fairies fluttered from her hand, nestling into the branches where they glowed prettily.

"Al?" Harry offered the jar to his son, who also collected and released a small handful of fairies onto the tree. One of the fairies fluttered to land on his shoulder instead of the tree and he smiled at it.

"Jamesy?" James scowled at his father's use of his childish nickname (which James had given himself when he first learnt to talk). "Sorry, James."

James was reluctant to scoop any of the fairies from the jar.

"Shall we give your turn to Lily?" Ginny asked with a knowing smile.

"No! I want to do it," James cried, rushing forward to retrieve his own handful of fairies. They too found places on the tree and the whole thing was flashing and twinkling.

There were enough fairies for the children to each have one more turn and James' sulkiness had evaporated by the time the jar was empty. The fairy on Albus' shoulder whizzed from her perch to the tree to join her sisters, leaving a little cloud of fairy dust all over Al's dark hair. Harry absent-mindedly went to brush it away and Albus smiled up at his dad.

Ginny placed the angel on the top of the tree to avoid any arguments and the Potters stood back to admire their Christmas tree. The bottom two thirds were a mess of random clusters of decorations where Lily had put all of hers right next to James' choices. Glitter from the pixie coated everything and would last for twelve hours before disappearing and the top third was more or less bare where the children couldn't reach it.

James, Al and Lily looked delighted. Harry and Ginny exchanged looks.

"Well done, kids. I think it's our best one yet!" Harry said convincingly.

"Redecorate after they've gone to bed?" Ginny muttered into his ear.

"Only if I get to hang the Hippogriff," he whispered back.

* * *

 **Thanks for reading day 2 of the 12 Days of Shipmas! Coming up on the 6th December, is 'Baby's First Christmas' starring a two month old Scorpius Malfoy :) check out my tumblr littlerose13writes to see the full list of prompts**


	3. The Owl-Mouse

_Prompt: Baby's first Christmas_

 _25th December, 2005_

Everybody says that the world looks different once you become a parent. That what was once small and insignificant evolves into the most relevant and important part of one's life. This was true for Draco Malfoy. Scorpius rocked his world in the very best way, making everything easier but at the same time so much more complicated.

The only problem was that Draco really couldn't buy into the whole _baby_ thing. He thought it was stupid to talk to his son in a silly voice all the time like everybody else seemed to want to do. He refused to pull stupid faces at his baby when he seemed perfectly happy with Draco's normal smile. Draco loved Scorpius so much, more than he'd ever loved anything in his life, and he didn't see why he needed to demonstrate this fact by making a complete fool out of himself.

Astoria told him to try to sound less sarcastic when he read to Scorpius, but he argued that it seemed to make Scorpius laugh more than when she read to him, and anyway, he was only two months old. Scorpius certainly didn't seem to be unhappy with his dad's cynical approach to fatherhood.

The one thing Draco wasn't counting on though, was how much more of a big deal he was supposed to make over every tiny thing that happened to Scorpius. Since the twenty-fourth of October, everything was so much more meaningful because it was Scorpius' first of everything.

Scorpius' first night at home, Scorpius' first bath, Scorpius' first outing, Scorpius' first Friday, Scorpius' first rain. The most mundane things became important when they were Scorpius' first time experiencing them.

Astoria wanted Scorpius' first Christmas to be perfect. It didn't matter that he was only two months old and wouldn't remember it one bit, which Draco refrained from pointing out. He found himself quite powerless to protest against anything if it was something Astoria wanted.

They decorated the manor more meticulously than they had for any of the other three Christmases they'd lived there as a married couple, even though it would only be the three of them there to enjoy it after they managed to get out of hosting Draco's parents, who were actually staying with the Greengrass family while they were in England.

Draco thought maybe he should be offended by this, but it was quite perfect that their families got on so well, better in fact that than their families got on with them. Astoria's parents were of similar ideals to his own, and they'd bonded over a shared dislike of how Draco and Astoria had chosen to raise their son outside of the traditional pureblood realms. They avoided spending time with each other usually, but Christmas forced them together.

They'd endured a stiff and awkward, painfully formal Christmas dinner at Astoria's family home, during which Scorpius had been appraised judgingly by everybody. Astoria's father claimed he seemed too small and Lucius curled his lip at the pale yellow outfit Draco had dressed him in." _It should be green, he's a Malfoy heir. Do you want him to end up in Hufflepuff?_ " Astoria opened her mouth to politely dispute this and Narcissa quickly jumped in with a loud comment about how much Scorpius looked like Draco did as a baby to diffuse the moment.

Eventually, finally, five painful courses later - and no fewer than four suggestions from Lucius that they leave Scorpius upstairs where a house-elf could look after him, instead of having him at the table with them ( _He's two months old, Lucius, and he's_ our _baby_.) - it was over. They were back at the manor, at home as a family.

The living room was a winter wonderland and beside the large Christmas tree, Scorpius was lying on his back in a bassinet, his tiny amount of white-blond hair, like the fuzzy seeds of a dandelion, sticking up from his head where he'd been sleeping. He was gazing with interest at his parents, making tiny snuffling noises and wriggling around.

"And this one is from Auntie Daphne," Astoria told their son, holding a present up in front of him as if he could understand. "Would you like to open it?"

"That looks means _yes Mummy but unfortunately I've not developed full use of my thumbs yet,_ " Draco explained and Astoria laughed at him.

"Shall we ask Daddy to open it for you?" she continued, handing Draco the present, picking Scorpius up gently and cradling him in her arms. He kicked his legs and arms in excitement. "That look means _hurry up and open it, Daddy_."

Draco rolled his eyes and undid the wrapping paper, removing a grey, stuffed animal and holding it up in front of Scorpius. He stared at it with his clear, grey-blue eyes.

Astoria took it from him and inspected it. "Oh, it's an owl, how sweet."

Draco looked at her like she was mad. "I thought it was a mouse? Look at its ears."

"It has wings, honey. See?" Astoria turned the creature round, still holding Scorpius in one arm, and indicated what vaguely resembled wings.

Draco shook his head. "No owl has paws."

"It has a beak!"

"It has whiskers!"

"What in Merlin's name _is_ it?"

They were stopped by a sudden gurgle from their baby. He was staring at the toy, eyes wide, and his hand extended out towards it. Astoria moved it closer to his outreached hand and he grasped at thin air a couple of times before successfully gripping onto the toy and pulling it towards him, where he promptly stuffed it into his mouth.

"Apparently Scorpius likes ambiguous crossover owl-mouse creatures," said Draco dryly.

"He reached out for it! He's never reached out for anything before." Astoria sounded overjoyed.

"I'll alert the minister at once," Draco said sarcastically.

"You're so clever Scorpius, reaching out and grabbing onto things all by yourself." She tickled him and he squealed in delight.

"He grabs onto my hair all the time," Draco muttered, massaging the back of his head where Scorpius had previously wrenched at his ponytail.

"I told you that would happen before he was born," his wife said to him, although she was looking at Scorpius as she spoke and tickling him under the chin with the owl-mouse.

Draco watched her with a smile. "Yes, but you still wouldn't let me cut it off."

Astoria looked up, offended. "Never! I love it too much."

She adjusted Scorpius so he was upright and leaning against her chest, where he attempted to gnaw on her shoulder. The hand that wasn't holding their baby in place came up to smooth Draco's hair back from his forehead and towards his immaculate ponytail, which she curled around her fingertips. He wrapped an arm around her waist and she rested her head on his shoulder, Scorpius gurgled happily between them.

"This is the part of Christmas I was looking forward to the most," Draco murmured and kissed the top of her head.

"Just us, our family," she whispered back.

"I have one more present for you." As Draco spoke, Astoria lifted her head from his shoulder and looked at him in question.

"You do?"

Draco nodded. "It's in here."

He lead her into the hallway where they had a second, smaller Christmas tree in the alcove beneath the grand staircase. Under the tree was one, small gift, wrapped in silver paper. Draco gently took Scorpius from her, tucking him into his chest and kissing his fluffy head.

Astoria curiously picked up the present, giving Draco a look of confusion. After all, they'd exchanged presents hours ago over breakfast.

"I probably should have given it to you sooner," Draco said apologetically, even though this meant nothing to Astoria because she hadn't opened it yet. "Go on, open it."

Scorpius was babbling excitedly over Draco's shoulder as if he knew what was inside the present. Astoria unwrapped it carefully and removed a tree ornament by its silver ribbon. She examined the ornament and looked up at Draco, clutching the present to her heart.

"You didn't?" she gasped and Draco nodded at her. "I thought you _hated_ things like this."

Draco raised his eyebrows. "I don't _hate_ things like that. We've never even discussed getting one of those."

"Because I knew you would think it was stupid," she said, a huge grin on her face.

Draco shook his head. "It's not stupid. Do you like it?"

"Draco, I love it." She caught his face in her hands and kissed him sweetly. He hugged her to him, one arm supporting Scorpius and the other around his wife.

"I love you," he said softly.

"And I love you," she breathed into his shoulder before suddenly pulling away. "Scorpius, no baby. Don't eat Daddy's hair."

Somewhere behind his head, Astoria was dislodging a section of his ponytail from Scorpius' grip (which was surprisingly strong) and patting it back into place.

When his hair was free, Draco lifted Scorpius up and held him in front of his face. The baby kicked his legs out with a smile. "Why do you always have to go for the hair?"

He kissed Scorpius on the nose, making him laugh, and turned him around, holding him against his stomach with one hand underneath him so he could watch his mother place the ornament on the tree. She smiled at Draco and their baby and hung it carefully on an empty branch, tapping it with her finger so it gently span. Draco watched it slowly revolve, as did Astoria, and Scorpius waved his arms about, his fists clenched.

The ornament caught the light of the fairies sat all over the tree. It was a simple crisp white circle, with a tiny handprint indented into the front, enchanted to glow softly. Underneath the handprint, written in a tiny version of Draco's handwriting, were the words _Scorpius' First Christmas 2005_.

* * *

 **Thanks for reading day 3! Coming up on 8th December, 'wrapping gifts' with my favourite Slytherin boys :) check out my tumblr littlerose13writes for the full list of upcoming prompts**


	4. Lightbulbs

_Prompt: Wrapping presents_

 _20th December, 2027_

The Potter/Malfoy's living room was decorated beautifully for Christmas. Garlands of holly lay across the wooden mantelpiece, studded with crimson berries and frosted with glistening snowflakes. Pale gold fairies nested amongst the leaves, glittering and twinkling.

Even though they would only be spending Christmas morning in their apartment, there was a large and generously decorated Christmas tree in the corner of the room which also housed iridescent, live fairies. Beneath the impeccable tree, the chaos started with an unwieldy pile of unwrapped presents in front of which Albus was sitting.

Spread all around him were several rolls of wrapping paper, three automatic spellotape dispensers, various bows and decorations, ribbon in every colour, a large, half-empty glass of mulled wine and a pair of scissors, which Albus kept misplacing and loudly asking Scorpius "where the fuck are the fucking scissors?" despite him having sat on them every single time.

Scorpius sat demurely on the floor behind Albus, leaning on the coffee table with his own glass of wine and using his best peacock feather quill to fill in Christmas cards and gift tags for all of their family and friends. The system was supposed to be that Albus selected a present from under the tree, told Scorpius what he'd picked up, wrapped it up while Scorpius wrote the matching card then the two were united and placed in the 'finished' pile.

The trouble was that Scorpius was taking much longer to fill in the cards as neatly as possible than Albus was taking to wrap the presents. After sitting around waiting for ten minutes before he could start wrapping the second present - and going overboard on the decoration on Lily's present in the meantime - Albus abandoned Scorpius' system and just started wrapping any present he could see.

"Who's this one for?" Scorpius asked his fiancé, holding up a cylindrical present wrapped in golden paper patterned with stars and a sprig of real holly (taken from the mantelpiece) spellotaped haphazardly to the front.

Albus considered the gift in question for a second, his head on one side.

"It's either a box of lightbulbs for Grandad Arthur or one of those floating bath candle things for Aunt Angie."

"Well, _which_?" Scorpius was poised with his quill hovered over a blank card.

"I'm pretty sure it's the candle," Albus guessed randomly, having no idea.

Scorpius looked at him suspiciously for a second before gently shaking the present. "That didn't help me."

"It's for Aunt Angie, I'm sure."

"Well, if she asks me why we gave her lightbulbs for Christmas-"

"You can blame it on me." Albus smiled and reached back into the gift pile for another present to wrap. He selected one and held it up suspiciously. "We bought someone a sieve for Christmas?"

"It's an _art installation_ for Dad." Scorpius sighed, took it from Albus and turned it the other way around, placing it back on the coffee table. "You were there when I bought it."

"I was?"

" _Yes_. You said the gallery was pretentious and only agreed to come in if I promised to buy you an ice-cream from Fortescue's."

"I did?"

"You had gingerbread flavour with chocolate sauce."

"Oh yeah, _that_ ice-cream!"

Scorpius rolled his eyes fondly at his fiancé.

"How exactly do you expect me to wrap this?" Albus picked up the sieve/art installation again, turning it around and considering the obscure shape.

"Oh, just as neatly as you have all the other presents," Scorpius muttered, finishing the gift tag he was writing with a flourish.

"Scor, I offered to write the cards instead and let you do the wrapping."

"You were just going to write _Merry Christmas from Scorpius and Albus_ once then charm it onto every tag."

"That is exactly what I was going to do. Then I was going to distract you from wrapping the presents. Why does it matter what the tags say? Nobody reads them anyway."

"I do!" said Scorpius, affronted. "I'm writing a personalised pun in everyone's card, it's really quite enjoyable."

Albus shrugged and cast the art installation aside, opting instead for a rectangular box which contained a pair of adorably tiny shoes for one of Teddy's twins. He was already bored with wrapping presents and it was only because of Scorpius' insistence that they sit down and do this together that he was even still doing it.

Opening the box to look at the shoes, Albus placed his first and middle fingers into a shoe each, making them 'walk' across the table and stop at Scorpius' writing arm. The shoes gently tapped their way up Scorpius' arm and over the back of his neck, then round to underneath his chin.

"Albus!" Scorpius complained and put his quill down. He looked down at where Albus was still waving the baby shoes around under his nose and grinned up at his fiancé. Albus' arm had ended up wrapped around Scorpius' shoulders and he snuggled into him.

"You can't be cross with these tiny things can you?" Albus made the tiny shoes dance around in front of Scorpius' face, until one fell off and landed on the floor.

"I don't know why we bought the twins shoes. Those girls have been barefoot every time I've ever seen them." He picked the fallen shoe up and reunited it with its pair.

"That's what happens when you live by the beach and do toddler yoga every morning," Albus explained with an eye roll as he replaced the shoes into their box.

Scorpius watched him. "How many presents left to wrap?"

"I don't know, like a hundred." Albus scooted back over to his fiancé with a sulky expression.

Scorpius frowned. "We don't know that many people."

"Whatever, I'm _bored_ of wrapping. Can we finish the rest with magic and go to bed?" He nibbled Scorpius' earlobe.

"No! We're wrapping them by hand, I want to start a tradition."

"Actually Scor, _I'm_ wrapping them by hand." He picked up one of his first attempts, where the automatic spellotape dispenser had proved to be a bit too exciting. "It's harder than it looks."

"It can't be that difficult without magic? Let me have a go."

"Okay fine, you're on." Albus reached into the present pile and picked out the matching shoebox for Teddy's other twin. He placed it in front of Scorpius and added a roll of wrapping paper, some scissors and a spellotape dispenser. "Best wrapped present wins."

Scorpius raised one eyebrow. "Wins what?"

Albus paused for a second, then wriggled closer to Scorpius to whisper in his ear. "If _you_ win, I'll do that thing you like with my tongue."

Scorpius' eyes widened and he smirked. "And if you win?"

"You tell me," Albus challenged.

"If you win, I promise to marry you next year." Scorpius smiled angelically.

"Isn't that literally what this means?" Albus grabbed Scorpius' left hand and span his engagement ring around, before interlinking their fingers.

"It's subject to demonstration of present wrapping abilities I'm afraid," Scorpius said, squeezing Albus' hand.

"Damn, I suppose we'll have to cancel the venue then." Albus kissed Scorpius.

"That thing you do with your tongue is rather a good prize," Scorpius wiggled his eyebrows, their faces inches apart.

"A better prize than marrying me?" Albus bit his lip.

Scorpius closed the gap between them and simply kissed him in response. Albus smirked and pulled away from him, pushing the second shoebox closer to his fiancé and grabbing his own.

They sat with their backs to each other, each wrapping a separate shoe box. Albus cut the wrapping paper as precisely as he would have done a shrivelfig in potion making and tried to fold every corner accurately. He wasn't too liberal with the spellotape and he even added a red ribbon to coordinate with the emerald green paper (the holly leaves seemed a bit hazardous to hand to a two year old). He wrote _Pippa_ on a gift tag in his neatest handwriting and tied it to the ribbon with a slightly lopsided bow. Overall, he was rather proud of his attempt; it was certainly his best one so far.

"Have you finished yet?" said Scorpius impatiently from behind him.

"Yep, prepare to be amazed." Albus turned, holding his nicely wrapped present in both hands and met Scorpius' eyes.

"Ta-da!" Scorpius sang, holding his own wrapped shoebox out.

Albus looked down at Scorpius' own wrapped gift. "What the fuck, Scor?"

Scorpius flinched and gazed at him with wide, grey eyes. His box was wrapped impeccably with scarlet paper, every corner crisp and even. Silver ribbon circled the middle of the box neatly and a large and sparkly silver ribbon decoration sat in the middle. A wooden gingerbread man tag was tied from the ribbon with a small card attached to it. The card read _This present is full of sole! Merry Christmas Clemmie, love Albus and Scorpius xxx_

"You used magic!" Albus accused.

"I did not! My wand is over there." Scorpius pointed to where his wand was on the other side of the table.

Albus eyed him suspiciously. "Well, I think it's safe to say you've won. Guess we can't get married." He pretended to sulk and Scorpius scooted over behind him, wrapping his arms over Albus' shoulders and whispering into his ear.

"What are you talking about, my little drama queen? You think I won't marry you after you do that thing with your tongue?" He nuzzled into the crook of Albus' neck.

Albus turned in his arms and pulled Scorpius into him, pressing their bodies close together and kissing him deeply. Scorpius kissed him back just as passionately until his hands were wondering, one into Albus' dark, messy hair and one under the buttons of his shirt.

Albus stroked the exposed skin of Scorpius' lower back where his top had risen up and Scorpius shivered involuntarily beneath his touch. He hummed with pleasure as they kissed, the vibrations of his lips sending Albus his own involuntary shivers as he continued to trail his fingertips over Scorpius' spine in a way that was full of hidden intent, and Scorpius knew it.

He briefly pulled his face away from Albus, just long enough to smile breathlessly and Albus watched his eyes light up in that familiar way they did. Albus smirked at his fiancé as Scorpius' fingers buried themselves deeper into his' hair and he leaned in, almost overpowering Albus and knocking him backwards onto the floor. He shoved a hand out at the last minute to catch himself, his wrist taking the full force of his actions, but in that moment, all he could think about was how badly he needed to be kissing Scorpius again.

"Let's do the rest by magic," Scorpius said hurriedly, leaning over and grabbing Albus' wand out of his back pocket then aiming it at the present pile, a quick flick wrapping them all.

Albus broke their contact for just a second to admire Scorpius' spellwork. "Not bad considering that wasn't even your wand."

Scorpius shrugged. "Hmm, the ribbon isn't curled evenly."

"I really couldn't care less right now," said Albus, pulling Scorpius to his feet and out of the room.

When Christmas Day came and the family were exchanging presents, Albus and Scorpius exchanged smirks when Harry and Ginny wondered who had wrapped each of their presents, as they were so different. One was vaguely stuck together with spellotape, and the other was perfect, almost as if it had been wrapped by magic.

* * *

 **Thanks for reading day 4! Coming up on 10th December, 'Christmas songs' and more Potter family fluff featuring everybody's favourite Winter themed kids' film:) check out my tumblr littlerose13writes for the full list of prompts**


	5. Okay Bye

_Prompt: Christmas songs_

 _21st December, 2010_

The Potter children were all very different at two years old. It seemed to be the age when their personalities really started to shine through.

James at two refused to wear clothes. It was not uncommon to walk into the Potters' house to find a little, naked James wandering around shamelessly. He just seemed to have a distinct aversion to being dressed. Although he did like to wear socks, and would often choose to remove every item of his outfit but his socks. It wasn't a problem at home - that was just how James preferred to play - but when he started to remove his clothes in the middle of public places such as Diagon Alley, Harry and Ginny had to regretfully break his little heart by explaining that he had to wear clothes.

Albus, thankfully, did not decide to imitate his brother and remained dressed most of the time. No, Albus' thing at two was cuddles. He gave them to everything and everyone he came across, regardless of whether they were living, breathing humans or not. Albus had been known to pick up snails in the garden and tuck them under his chin, wrapping his arms around himself so he could _cuddol_ them. He would take books from shelves, utensils from kitchen drawers, and his baby sister from her bed, just so he could give them a _cuddol._

It was adorable, and Ginny was rather disappointed when he grew out of it.

At the age of two, Lily's thing was singing. Or rather her version of singing, which involved repeating the words she thought she knew over and over to a rough approximation of the tune.

" _Who you wanna build a snowman?_ " she sang, spinning around and staring at her feet. " _Come unnagunna play!_ "

"Lily! I'm trying to tell Mummy about my drawing, stop singing." James sulked at the kitchen table.

" _Okay bye,_ " Lily sang mournfully and ran to the other side of the room, where she jumped on Albus' back and grabbed him from behind. He barely looked up from the tower he was building, sat with both legs stuck straight out in front of him and his tongue out in concentration. " _Who you wanna build a snowman?_ "

Lily singing directly into his ear was too much for Albus to ignore and he grumpily looked up from the tower he'd been building. "I'm building a tower," he explained to his sister, who sat down on the floor beside him.

" _Soosabee best buddies, now we not. Wish a tow me why!_ " Lily continued to sing loudly and with abandon. Albus scowled at her and turned his back with his tower.

"As nice as it was of Mr and Mrs Granger to take Lily to see that muggle film with Hugo-"

"I really wish they hadn't." Ginny finished for her husband who nodded regretfully.

"How does she know _all_ the words?" He ruffled James' hair and looked up expectantly at Albus, who had come over with his tower in one hand.

" _Never see me at the more, in the door, like away_!" Lily had resumed spinning on the spot.

"This tower is for you, Daddy," Albus said, proudly handing the structure to Harry, who looked at it with over-enthusiastic joy.

"A tower handmade by _the_ Albus Potter? It's just what I always wanted!" He pulled a giggling Albus into a hug.

" _Who you wanna build a snowman?_ "

"My picture is finished, Mummy, look!" James waved the parchment like a flag, nearly slicing Ginny's eyelid open in the process.

" _Duza have a be a snowman_."

"It's beautiful James, is this all of us?" Ginny stared bemusedly at the picture, which showed five shaky figures that really could have been anybody, although the hairstyles were sort of a giveaway. The figures stood beside a Christmas tree which was double their height and covered in glitter from James' magical crayons.

"Yes. That's me," he pointed to the first figure who had carefully coloured, red and brown hair.

"Your hair's not messy enough," Ginny teased, ruffling it as she spoke, making James laugh.

" _Best buddies, now we not_."

"This is you and Daddy," he continued and indicated a pair of figures on the end, one with wonky oval shaped glasses covering his eyes and one with two red lines of hair which reached her feet.

" _Build a snowman!_ "

"That's Al," and a figure with black crayon hair and for some reason a green hat that he definitely didn't own or wear in real life.

"Why's he wearing a hat?" Harry asked, looking at the picture over James' shoulder with Albus sat on his hip.

"He's not, I accidentally coloured his hair in green a bit by accident," James explained.

"And is this Lily?" Ginny asked doubtfully, as the last figure had hair that had been coloured in with bright blue crayon.

" _Duza have a be a snowman_." Lily had stopped spinning and swayed as she walked towards her family. Harry caught her with one hand as she nearly toppled over. " _Okay bye._ "

" _No_ , Mummy. That's Teddy of course!" James looked at her like she had asked a stupid question.

"Did you miss out Lily?" Albus asked, sounding offended on her behalf.

"Lily is _here_." James stabbed his finger in the table, a few inches off the edge of his parchment. "She is too busy singing to stand by the tree, see?"

His enthusiastic pointing allowed Harry and Ginny to see that, coming into the picture from the side James indicated, were some musical notes and the word snoman amongst them.

" _Who you wanna build a snowman?_ "

"Maybe it's time to learn a new song Lily-Lu," Harry said, as Albus wriggled from his arms and onto the floor, jumping up and down in excitement. He knew what Harry meant.

"Excellent idea, Daddy," Ginny said, helping Harry open the magical record player. It didn't actually play records, and instead stored as much music inside as you wanted, to be selected with a tap of a wand.

"Hand Clap!" Albus requested enthusiastically and Harry nodded and played the song he asked for.

All three children danced enthusiastically around the kitchen and Lily forgot about singing her snowman song for the rest of the evening.

* * *

On Christmas morning, Lily was excitedly opening her present from Ron and Hermione. She ripped the wrapping paper away and squealed in excitement when she saw what was inside. It was a princess doll from the film she loved so much.

"Look, pwincess!" she cried, showing everyone in the room. She inspected it in great detail all over and gave the doll's hand a squeeze.

" _Do you wanna build a snowman?_ " the toy began to sing loudly and James looked up in horror.

"I'm disowning Ron," said Ginny.

* * *

 **Thanks for reading day 5! Coming up on 12th December, 'Did someone spoke the eggnog?' featuring my favourite family again, but al grown up this time :) check out my tumblr littlerose13writes for the full list of prompts**


	6. The Lily Special

_Prompt: Did someone spoke the eggnog?_

 _24th December, 2026_

Everyone in the family knew that Lily Potter loved board games. They also knew that Lily Potter was the most viciously competitive member of her generation. These two facts were why everyone avoided playing games with her on the off chance she lost and threw a tantrum or a hex their way.

But Christmas Eve was the exception. It was the one night of the year Lily could convince her family to play with her, and they didn't hold back. Now Lily was no longer a child, her brothers thought she could handle losing from time to time, and they did their best to make that happen. Some rather underhanded tactics had taken place in previous years to prevent Lily from winning.

As the kids got older - and James started playing professional Quidditch and really discovered his competitive side - the gameplay became even dirtier. With the addition of alcohol in more recent years, Potter Christmas Eve Game Night was really quite something to behold.

Of course Teddy had always been part of Game Night too, and then Victoire when he married her. This year was the first year their baby twin girls were also in attendance. Albus started to bring Scorpius along from their first Christmas out of Hogwarts and living together and Scorpius enjoyed the whole thing immensely. James, ever the bachelor, was unlikely to bring anybody with him. Lily was gushing to anybody who would listen about her new boyfriend who she'd met at university, but he was a muggle and it was a very new relationship so she hadn't brought anyone either.

"Who wants The Lily Special? I make them at uni all the time." Lily asked her family loudly, brandishing a cocktail glass. Everybody said no, apart from Scorpius who politely asked what was in it before Albus listed the five different types of alcohol included and Scorpius shuddered.

"I can't drink much tonight. The twins have never slept away from home before," Teddy explained, appearing in the living room with his wife after having put their twins down to sleep in the spare room.

They were three games in, Lily was in second to last place (Harry was last because he always let Lily beat him) and she was really not enjoying herself. She was bored of being picked on by her brothers in every single game and the smug look on Albus' face was starting to get to her.

"Next we're playing _Mandrake Mime!_ " Lily insisted and Albus rolled his eyes at the mention of the game which only Lily actually knew how to play.

"That game is the _worst_."

"Last place always gets to choose," Lily turned to her father, who was nursing a firewhiskey and making eyes at his wife sat beside him. "Daddy, do you choose _Mandrake Mime?_ "

Harry looked up, confused. "What? Oh, yes definitely."

Lily gave Albus a triumphant look. "You're incorrigible," he muttered as she set the game up.

"Cheer up Al, this one's always hilarious." Scorpius poked Albus in the side. "What was it you had to do last time?"

"I don't remember," he muttered.

"He had to mime eating a hot dog and didn't understand why we were all laughing so hard at him," Teddy put in helpfully.

"That's you lot and your dirty minds, not my intention." Albus held his hands up.

Lily scoffed. "Probably for the best, otherwise I'd feel sorry for Scorpius if that's _actually_ how you-"

"Who wants more eggnog?" Ginny quickly interrupted and offered it round. Albus was rolling his eyes at Lily and Scorpius had turned bright red. With a triumphant look, Lily shook her head and gestured to her own glass which was already full with some concoction probably containing copious amounts of vodka, knowing Lily.

Despite Al's protests, they played _Mandrake Mime_ and to Lily's delight, the withstanding 'don't let Lily win' rule was sidelined in favour of 'pick on Al' instead. The game required each player to choose someone to act out a phrase on a card, and there was also a board and a complicated system of earning tokens, which only Lily understood.

Nobody was paying a great deal of attention to any of the rules and instead they were enjoying winding Albus up.

"Oh, it's my turn to draw a card." Scorpius innocently took a card from the pile and held it face down. "Let's see, who do I choose?" He pretended to consider everybody before handing the card to a scowling Albus with a flourish. Albus was in such a bad mood by this point that Scorpius was probably the only person who could have gotten away with giving him another card.

"I'm moving out, you no longer have a housemate," Albus said to Scorpius as he begrudgingly took the card and read it to himself. "Or a boyfriend."

"It's okay Scorp, you can move in with us, can't he Dad?" Lily patted Scorpius on the shoulder.

"Any day Scorpius. You're much tidier than Albus." Harry grinned at Albus who was rolling his eyes but was taking the teasing well.

"Can I get this over with?" he held the card up.

"Short, scrawny potions nerd," James yelled as soon as Albus stood up.

"Wow, Jamesy. Got it in one." Albus threw the card down in front of his brother and fell back onto the sofa next to his boyfriend. "Can we play something different now? I'm bored of being a performing monkey."

"This says _realising you've forgotten your wand,_ " James read the card incredulously.

"Yes!" Lily drowned out everyone else. "That means I won that game!"

There was a collective groan.

Somehow the next game didn't ever happen as the family descended into conversation and everyone was too busy drinking and talking to bother setting up another game, even Lily. Albus and Scorpius were curled up together in an armchair, not far from the sofa which Victoire was sat on with Ginny and Harry. Over on the other sofa, Lily was leaning against James and tapping at her muggle mobile phone, chatting to Teddy as she did.

Teddy's wand, which was lying on the mantelpiece, emitted glowing sparks and the sound of a baby crying came from it. Victoire put her drink down immediately.

"If one of them wakes up, it doesn't take long for the other one to join her," she muttered to Ginny, rising to leave.

"I'll do it, you stay here, Princess." Teddy was on his feet already and he kissed the top of her head, stroking her hair lovingly. "I love you so much."

Vic raised her eyebrows as she watched him leave.

"That was… sweet. A little over the top, but sweet." Ginny was confused by her almost-son's behaviour.

"He's drunk," said Victoire shrewdly, narrowing her eyes into the distance where Teddy had just left. "That, right there, that was drunk Teds."

"I thought he wasn't drinking much 'cause of the babies?"

"So did I." Victoire looked thoughtful. "He's barely drank at all since we found out I was pregnant, it's supposed to be a solidarity thing. I told him he didn't have to but, well, you know what Teddy's like."

"His taking-care-of-people thing," Ginny said proudly. "What happened tonight then? It's not like Teddy to just abandon ship like that.

Victoire considered her question for a second and then turned in her seat. "Albus!"

He looked up from his boyfriend and grinned at her, his green eyes giving away instantly that it wasn't only Teddy who was drunk.

"What did you give my husband to drink?" She eyed his full glass of something that looked like one of Lily's Special Cocktails.

Albus gestured vaguely to the door that Teddy had just left through. "Your husband went that way."

"Not really what I asked. You're no help when you're drunk, Al."

He shrugged and took a sip of his drink happily. Scorpius had been listening to their exchange and luckily was able to shed light on Vic's question where Albus had failed.

"He's just been drinking this delicious eggnog all night. It's not strong at all." Scorpius was holding a glass of said eggnog precariously as he spoke and Victoire looked at him suspiciously.

"Give me that a second." She reached for his glass and he obliged. One quick sip confirmed that Harry's eggnog recipe certainly _was_ strong.

"Merlin, Uncle Harry! How much rum did you put in this?" She turned to her uncle who was all kinds of confused.

"James made it this year."

Everyone turned to look at where James was sitting and talking to Lily.

"What?" he said, looking up when he sensed so many people looking at him.

"How much alcohol did you put in this?" Ginny asked, looking confused but also like she was trying to hold back laughter.

"Did someone spike the eggnog?" James looked shocked and appalled, and grabbed Scorpius' glass from Victoire's hand to taste it. "Tastes fine to me. I followed Dad's recipe exactly. Lily helped me, you saw, didn't you Lil? I used the recipe."

Lily didn't respond and was looking rather shifty.

"Lily Luna Potter!" Ginny reprimanded her daughter as if she were seven, rather than eighteen. "You didn't?"

"Come on, you have to admit it made everything more fun. Look at Scorpius."

"Oh, hi everyone," Scorpius said, looking pleased when he noticed so many eyes on him. He'd conjured himself a party hat which he'd been unable to convince anyone else to wear with him.

"You got Teddy drunk, Lil." Ginny looked as if she was slightly amused by her daughter's actions.

"He got drunk from that? When did he become such a lightweight?" Lily looked incredulous. "He's not Scorpius."

"Hey!" Scorpius said, offended, but then he shrugged his shoulders. "Actually, fair point."

"You're a cheap date," Albus threw an arm around his shoulders and stole his party hat.

"Your idea of a lightweight isn't on the same page as anyone else's if your stories from freshers week are anything to go by, Lil." Ginny rolled her eyes.

"Teds hardly ever drinks anymore, Lily," Victoire explained calmly; she wasn't upset by the situation because drunk Teddy just meant he was more tactile and a bit soppier than usual.

"Since he had _babies_ and turned _boring_ ," Lily muttered, stirring her own drink with a straw. Victoire laughed at her words and got up to go to the kitchen and refill her drink, taking Harry's glass with her too.

Teddy appeared in the kitchen, their daughter held firmly in his arms, one of her hands in his as he exaggeratedly danced around with her and she squealed in delight. "That's your mummy, the most beautiful woman in the world."

Victoire rolled her eyes and took the baby from him. "Is Clemmie still asleep?"

Teddy didn't seem to hear her, he was still holding their daughter's little hand and making exaggerated faces at her. "I love your mummy so much, and I love you so much."

Victoire looked around the kitchen and lowered her voice so nobody else could hear her use his pet name. "Blue Bear, I know you're drunk right now. Lily spiked the eggnog. I don't mind one bit, you can stop all this."

He smiled at her gratefully, as Pippa let go of his hand. "Thought you'd be cross with me," he muttered, stroking the baby's blonde hair. "S'all Al's fault."

"It's actually all Lily's fault," Victoire replied, leading Teddy back into the living room with their baby. They were met by both Ginny and Scorpius descending on them to coo over the baby.

Ginny took her from Victoire and Scorpius held onto her little hand, waving it around and making faces at her. Baby Pippa was smiling widely at him and her smile grew even bigger when she spotted Teddy again over Scorpius' shoulder. She reached out for him and Ginny obliged, handing the baby over to her dad where she curled into him and rested her head on his shoulder.

"She's normally such a good sleeper," Victoire sighed, watching her daughter.

Scorpius ended up sat on the floor with his back up against the sofa, his knees bent up and Pippa sat across his stomach happily.

"Look at her little feet, and her little toes, and her little pyjamas. Look how little she is." Scorpius was practically in tears over how cute the lower half of baby Pippa was. He was talking to Albus, who was spread out on the sofa behind him, giving non-committal noises of comprehension every few seconds and gazing at the baby too. "She's just so little, wow, so small. She's like a human, but really tiny."

"Have you done your term in the neo-natal ward yet, Scorpius?" Victoire asked him, watching her daughter giggle. Victoire was a junior Healer and she'd chosen to specialise in mental health magic; Scorpius was in his third year of Healer school and about to choose his own specialism.

"That's my last one! I've got the whole paediatrics department still to go. I've been in Spell Damage this past term, and before that Potion Poisoning." Scorpius turned to speak to her then immediately shifted his gaze back to the baby and started cooing over her again.

"I think you'll enjoy it," she laughed as Scorpius babbled away to her daughter.

"You should have seen him when he was on the Labour and Delivery ward." Albus grinned, sitting up on the sofa behind his boyfriend. " _Albus, this baby was only this big. He was so small, only this big I tell you._ "

"I don't sound like that!"

"You do a bit, love." Albus stroked Scorpius' shoulders and Scorpius, noticing he'd sat up, picked baby Pip up to sit beside Albus on the sofa. The baby reached curiously towards Albus and he leaned forward to take her from Scorpius. Pippa was more interested in grabbing a fistful of Al's hair, and his neck was stuck tilted at an odd angle as she happily pulled at it.

"Your daughter's broken my neck, Ted," Albus laughed, his head still leant over to one side. Teddy didn't hear him because he was curled up against his wife who was stroking his hair fondly and keeping an eye on their daughter from across the room.

Scorpius freed Al's hair from Pippa's grip and she looked at him reproachfully. "She's cross with you now," Albus observed.

"I'm sorry, Pippy. I'm quite attached to your Uncle Albus' hair," Scorpius told her very seriously and she giggled at him, squirming down further and settling herself across Albus' chest.

Albus kissed the top of her head. "I think I want one, one day. A long time from now." He spoke loud enough so that only his boyfriend could hear.

"Me too." Scorpius rested his head on Albus' shoulder and gazed down at the baby too. "You know I can't give you one of these. Or did you mean with somebody else?" he said quietly.

Albus looked up at him and furrowed his brow. "Of course I meant with you."

"Which takes me back to my original point. I can't give you a baby, I lack certain essential components."

Albus laughed lightly as Pippa crawled across the two of them, landing on top of Scorpius. "We'll work something out. Imagine having one of these around all the time."

Pippa sat up and stared at Scorpius, as if realising for the first time that he was neither of her parents. Her bottom lip trembled and she let out a piercing scream, attempting to throw herself from his lap. Scorpius' reactions, while slower than usual, still kicked in to catch her in time, but that only made her cry more. He hastily lifted her up to deliver her back to Victoire, where she settled almost instantly.

"I think I prefer it just the two of us for now," Scorpius sighed, throwing an arm around his intoxicated boyfriend. Albus nodded in agreement.

* * *

 **Thanks for reading day 6, halfway through! Coming up on 14th December is 'snowman' and it's Potter fluff again (no surprises there) :) check out my tumblr littlerose13writes for the full list of prompts**


	7. Glitter and Snowmen

_Prompt: snowman_

 _23rd December, 2015_

"It snowed! Everyone wake up right now, it snowed last night and there's snow _everywhere_!"

Lily Potter's dulcet tones woke everyone in the house up within minutes through her sheer excitement. The seven-year-old swung open both her brothers' doors and she ran into Albus' room first, jumping on top of him where he lay under his duvet.

"Is it really snowing?" he said excitedly, pushing her off him and jumping out of bed. He ran to the window and pressed his hands and face against it. "We have to tell James, come on!"

Albus grabbed Lily's hand and pulled her from the room. They hurtled into James' room and Lily repeated her technique of jumping directly on top of her sleeping brother. James was less impressed than Albus had been.

"Geroff me Lily," he complained, pushing his face deeper into his pillow.

"But James, you have to wake up! It's snowed!"

"It'll still have snowed in two hours, goodnight." He sandwiched his head between two pillows and turned away from them. Lily shared a disappointed look with Albus.

"Fine, I'm gonna wake up Tebby!" She rushed from the room and directly into Harry, who was waiting on the landing.

"Don't wake Teddy up, Lil," he said kindly.

"Daddy! Did you know there's snow?"

"I might have heard you mention it once, yes," Harry replied, picking his daughter up.

"James won't wake up and play with us," she said glumly, resting her head on Harry's shoulder. From the ground, Albus could see the sly grin she was showing over Harry's shoulder and he rolled his eyes at his little sister.

"It _is_ a bit early for your brothers."

"Albus is awake," Lily said confusedly. "He's a brother."

"Well, as we're the only three up, we get to make the first footprints."

"Yes!" Lily cried, heading straight for the stairs.

"Stop. Not in pyjamas, your mother will have my head."

It didn't take long for Lily, Albus and Harry to be bundled up in coats, boots, hats, scarves and gloves. Lily was wearing James' Gryffindor hat, which was sure to cause problems when he woke up, but Harry decided to let it slide for now.

"You can go first, Lily. You're the littlest."

Her brother was trying to be kind, but Lily resented being referred to as little. Harry could clearly see the internal battle she was undergoing, torn between not wanting to admit she was the littlest but also wanting to be the first out in the snow.

"Same time!" she cried eventually, grabbing Albus' hand and jumping from the doorstep into the blanket of snow covering the garden. Her blue wellies sank into the surface with a satisfying crunch right beside Albus' orange pair. He grinned down at his sister and they both sprinted off as fast as they could in the thick snow.

By the time everyone else was up and dressed for the snow, Harry had cast several warming charms over his youngest two children, who refused to come inside and warm up properly. Harry didn't blame them; this was the first time it had snowed properly where they lived since Lily was a baby.

Snow always reminded him of Hogwarts and fond memories of snowball fights with the Weasleys; building snowmen with only a little magic help; sending Trevor the toad skidding across the frozen lake surface. Now stood here watching his children experience the wonder snow provided was just as delightful.

Despite now being a first year at Hogwarts and often too grown up to play with his little brother and sister like he used to, James emerged with a pure and childlike joy on his face. He came running out into the garden, immediately gathering a handful of snow and firing it at Harry, who dutifully allowed it to hit him full in the face. James cheered and went to scoop up more.

Teddy was a seventh year and Ginny a fully grown adult and yet they too were laughing hysterically, snow flying everywhere. There was something about snow that turned anyone into a child again.

"I want to build a snowman!" Lily exclaimed after a while.

"Me too!" Albus agreed, immediately scrabbling at the ground to make a start.

"Everyone should build one! A best snowman competition!" Lily cried in excitement.

"Wait, that's not fair because the grown-ups can use magic!" Albus protested.

Lily considered this for a second. "Okay, put your hand up if you can use magic."

Harry, Ginny and Teddy exchanged amused looks and obediently put their hands up. James' hand shot up too.

" _Legally_ , James. You're a first year."

James scowled at Ginny's comment.

"Mum, you can build a snowman with James, Al can build one with Daddy and I'm going to build one with Tebby," Lily announced.

"Come on Lily-Lu, it's on!" Teddy grabbed her hand and ran with her to the other side of the garden where an untouched pile of snow sat. "I have the best idea, listen to this." He whispered into her ear and she looked gleeful.

" _I_ want to go with Teddy," Albus sulked and Harry folded his arms.

"You mean, you _don't_ want to hear about my competition-winning snowman design idea, Al?"

Albus brightened up and turned to his dad. "What design idea?"

Harry cast Ginny and James a furtive look. "I can't tell you here, come and see." He took Albus' hand and lead him to the corner opposite Teddy and Lily, who made a big show of turning their backs secretly.

"We're not letting anyone else win are we, Mum." James stated defiantly.

"Not if I have anything to do with it."

An hour later, three snowmen stood in the Potters' garden and everybody was freezing, despite the warming charms Harry had cast on his children's coats.

Teddy and Lily's was the most decorated out of the three, wearing not only a conjured hat and scarf but also a waistcoat and bow tie, which Lily had decorated liberally with glitter Teddy summoned for her. Its smile was made out of frosty snail shells Lily had found under a watering can.

Ginny and James' snowman was the biggest, and probably would have survived a snowstorm it was so sturdy. James had insisted on using his wand (to remind his siblings that he had a wand and they didn't) as the nose and it stuck out comically, too long for the snowman's face.

Harry and Al's snowman was the tallest but it also looked in danger of falling over at any point, and was held up entirely by magic which Harry kept topping up worriedly. It was wearing a conjured top hat, had a traditional carrot nose and looked a bit like a muggle magician.

"How do we decide who won?" James asked, his teeth chattering.

"Let's discuss that inside where it's warm," Ginny said with concern.

Once the children were all bundled up in front of the fire with hot chocolates, the question of picking the winning snowman came up again.

"I think me and Tebby should win 'cause ours had the most glitter," Lily explained very seriously.

James and Albus protested instantly.

"It's not about who has the most glitter!"

"Glitter looks rubbish on a snowman!"

"Glitter does _not_ look rubbish," Teddy pretended to be cross with James for Lily's benefit and she nodded fiercely beside him.

"Well me and Dad's was the tallest, so we should win," Albus replied, ignoring Teddy's response about the glitter.

"No! Ours was nearly as tall anyway!" James complained.

Harry, Ginny and Teddy exchanged glances, all silently regretting turning this into a competition.

"Can't we all be winners? I had so much fun, I feel like a winner," Harry said in a jaunty tone.

All three of his children looked at him like he'd just announced he wanted to become a professional opera singer.

"Didn't think that would work…" Harry tailed off.

"We need someone who didn't take part to choose a winner," Ginny said, causing Albus to look around the room as if there might be someone else there he hadn't known about.

As he looked at the fireplace, the flames turned green and Ron's head appeared in the flames.

"Uncle Ron!" Lily exclaimed.

"Oh, hello all of the Potters," Ron was taken aback by the reception. "Harry, do you have a minute?"

"Absolutely, come through."

As soon as Ron's head disappeared again while he prepared to Floo in, Harry turned to his family. "We'll ask Ron to pick a winner. Don't worry Albus, he'll definitely pick his best friend."

Albus beamed at this news and James opened his mouth to protest again but she was drowned out by Lily, who scoffed loudly. " _Please_. Everyone knows I'm Uncle Ron's favourite Potter! He'll definitely pick me."

"Maybe, to make things fairer, we shouldn't tell him who built each snowman?" Ginny reasoned, sensing another argument.

Lily went to speak but stopped herself. James and Albus were silent too. "That seems fair," she said, after a pause.

Ron spun into the room and dusted himself off, accepting Lily's rather violent hug and picking her up into the air. "How's my favourite Potter girl?"

"Feeling like I really like glit-"

"That's cheating, Lily!" Albus interrupted her.

Ron looked between them bewildered, then over to Ginny.

"Ronald, dearest brother of mine, we were wondering if you would do us a quick favour while you're here and judge our impromptu snowman competition."

Ron blinked round at the six expectant faces. "I have to judge who's built the best snowman out of you lot?"

"We were in teams," James explained. "Me and Mum, Albus and Dad, Lily and Teddy."

"Three snowmen, but we aren't going to say who made which one." Ginny added.

"Okay, I can do that." Ron shrugged and allowed the children to lead him away into the garden where the three odd snowmen stood proudly. Harry quickly shot another strengthening charm at their snowman and Teddy definitely enlarged the bow tie on theirs.

"These are mad, you know that right?" Ron grinned at the Potters who shared proud looks. "But if I had to pick the maddest out of the lot, then it has to be this glittery one. That's yours I'm guessing James?"

James missed the joke, scowled heavily and grumbled "no, I hate glitter," stamping his foot into the snow.

"Then again, if we're talking about the best building of a snowman, then this one has a clear height advantage. A lot of effort has gone into the height of that." He surveyed Harry and Albus' snowman.

"But I also have a bit of a soft spot for snowmen with wands for noses." He poked at James' wand where it was firmly stuck into the compacted snow.

"So who's the winner?" Lily said impatiently. "You sort of said all three."

"All three are the winners," Ron beamed and Harry groaned as the children started to complain.

"Lily, consider this a lesson in never relying on a brother too much."

Lily saluted her mother, laughing, which was a relief as she was easily the most competitive out of the three Potter children.

They trudged back inside, leaving the three winning snowmen stood proudly in the garden.

Harry spoke when they were back by the fireplace. "Now that's sorted, what did you need, Ron?"

Ron grinned. "I feel a bit silly asking now, but you couldn't come and be an impartial judge for the First Annual Granger-Weasley Gingerbread House competition could you?"

* * *

 **Thanks for reading day 7! I don't know how I feel about this one, feedback would be appreciated! :) coming up on 16th December is 'Christmas jumpers' with my fav Weasley girl! Come and say hi on tumblr littlerose13writes and also see the full list of prompts :)**


	8. Handmade

_Prompt: Christmas jumpers_

 _December 2008_

This year, Ginny had her Christmas presents _nailed_.

It just felt right, now she had three children of her own, that this was the Christmas she learned to knit.

Everybody loved Grandma Molly's Christmas jumpers, and she was still rolling them out every year, somehow managing to accommodate for all of the extra family members. So Ginny decided her contribution to the Weasley women's legacy could be scarves. Everybody liked scarves didn't they?

She pictured it in her head, everyone opening a fluffy, warm scarf hand knitted by their Auntie Ginny, in a colour and pattern personalised to the receiver. It could become just as much of a tradition as her mother's jumpers. Weasley Christmas Jumpers and Weasley Christmas Scarves.

And knitting didn't look like it was too difficult.

Ginny had a brilliant afternoon shopping for wool with Luna, baby Lily attached to her front and a promise from Harry, who was looking after the boys, to take as long as she needed and to bring Luna home for dinner. They visited the strangest little shop in Diagon Alley which seemed to be simultaneously a haberdashery and a book shop, but also sold plants and served different types of tea. It was sort of as if Luna had been personified into a shop.

"How many balls of wool do you need for one scarf?" Ginny asked her friend curiously, picking up one in a particular gaudy shade of yellow.

Luna looked blank. "As many as it takes."

"I thought you could knit, Lu?" Ginny looked down to see that Lily had fallen asleep.

Luna shook her head. "Oh no, but I'd love to learn with you!"

Ginny rolled her eyes at her friend, who had definitely given the impression she knew how to knit. She reached for four balls of the bright yellow. "I think that looks about right for one scarf."

"How many scarves are you making?" Luna asked, running her fingertips over a fluffy, blue wool.

She held her hand out to count on her fingers. "Let's see: five brothers, plus Harry, Hermione, Angelina, Audrey and Fleur, Mum and Dad, seven nieces and nephews, three children, one Teddy." Ginny was left with three fingers held up and a pensive expression on her face. "So that's… twenty-three? Blimey, that's quite a lot really."

Luna didn't look as worried as Ginny suddenly felt at the prospect of knitting twenty-three scarves when she didn't even know how to knit yet.

"I'm sure it'll be fine."

The shop owner looked amused at Ginny's purchase of forty-six balls of wool (she had advised Ginny that four per scarf would be far too much). But Ginny was pleased with her bag stuffed full of wool, with a few pairs of knitting needles thrown into the top.

After dinner that night, when she and Harry had put the children to bed and she'd read Al a total of four different stories before he was ready to sleep, she sat cross legged on the living room floor and excitedly tipped the balls of wool out onto the floor.

"Wow," said Harry. "That is a _lot_ of wool."

"Isn't it great?" Ginny gushed, pulling a ball of orange wool towards her and unwrapping it. "I'm making Ron's first, in Cannons colours."

With the instruction sheet the shop owner had given her and the knitting needles in one hand, Ginny unravelled a length of wool.

"Isn't there a spell for this?" Harry watched her uncertainly.

Ginny waved a hand at him nonchalantly. "I don't need that, I'm sure it'll be much quicker this way."

Forty-five minutes later, Ginny was lying face down on the living room floor, a twisted knot of orange wool tangled around one of the needles.

"How's it going, love?" Harry cautiously re-entered the room (he'd left to check the children were still asleep through all the swearing).

Ginny raised her head and looked at him forlornly. "Shit."

"Is this Ron's scarf?" Harry asked uncertainly, picking up the little twist of orange wool which was barely the length of his hand. He forced back a laugh which Ginny noticed and she sat up and back on her heels, taking it from him. She balanced it across her collarbones as if she were wearing it as a scarf.

"Yes, do you think he'll like it?" Harry snorted and she was laughing before she could think about it, Harry joining in with her.

"Is that spell looking tempting yet?" Harry asked.

"No, I want to do it by hand like Mum does! I think maybe I just need someone to _show_ me how to do it, instead of just following these instructions." She picked up the sheet of parchment and dropped it again, letting it flutter to the ground lamely.

"You should ask Hermione, she can knit," Harry mused.

"Good idea, I'll Floo her in the morning," Ginny stood up, cramming all her knitting supplies back into the bag and tucking them into the corner away from Al's toddler toys. She yawned widely and took hold of Harry's hand as she left the room, pulling him upstairs with her.

"You know, everyone will still love your scarves if you use a spell," he said gently, in a whisper as they got nearer to the children's rooms. She kissed him on the cheek and smiled.

* * *

It was the next morning and Hermione had responded to Ginny's Floo by popping round with baby Hugo. She stared at Ginny in a mix of horror and amusement. "Let me get this straight, you want me to show you how to knit so you can make twenty-three scarves in time for Christmas Day next week?"

Ginny nodded eagerly. "Don't tell anyone else though, it's supposed to be a surprise."

"Ginny, do you know how long it'll take you to make _one_ scarf?"

"An hour?" Ginny estimated.

"It took me over an hour to make each tiny elf hat back in school," Hermione explained gently.

Ginny cast around for a solution, her vision of her family all opening a handmade scarf on Christmas Day at the forefront of her mind. Her eyes fell on Lily and Hugo who were respectively sitting and lying on a blanket on the floor.

"Okay, let's see. Lily and Hugo are babies, babies don't need scarves." She nodded reasonably, trying to encourage Hermione to join in. "I suppose I can make ones for James and Al in the new year. We've got them enough presents. And Harry come to think of it. So that brings it down to only eighteen."

" _Eighteen_?" Hermione caught herself and held her hands up. "Okay, fine, I'll show you how to do it."

Twenty minutes later, Ginny was slowly but surely weaving the orange wool together after Hermione had cast on for her. "Oh shit, I dropped another stitch."

Hermione sighed and fixed the knitting, handing the needles back to Ginny. "Keep going."

She got the hang of the rows, occasionally handing them carefully over to Hermione so she could pick Lily up and jiggle her around for a second or feed her when she started to fuss.

"Is it long enough yet?" she asked every few minutes, holding up her creation.

After working on Ron's scarf for three hours and being left with a lumpy patch no longer than four inches, Ginny started to suspect she'd been a bit ambitious.

"Is there a spell I can use?" she asked with the air of someone who hasn't quite given up but might very soon.

Hermione shook her head sadly. "You can enchant needles to copy your patterns and knit by themselves, so you could recreate this as many times as you wanted." Hermione held up the scarf attempt that might have possibly been useful as a blanket for a fairy. "But there's no spell to knit for you. Believe me, I looked for one in my fourth year."

"Someone should really get on inventing one of those," Ginny muttered, holding the 'scarf' in defeat.

* * *

Christmas Day rolled around a week later, and Ginny had wrapped her presents neatly, parcelling them up with the generous batches of his famous shortbread biscuits Harry had baked for everybody's Christmas gift. They sat waiting under the Christmas tree at The Burrow and Ginny was excited for her family to open them.

"You should all open them at the same time," Ginny explained, distributing the gifts to her family members. She watched excitedly as they all began to tear into the paper, expressing excitement at Harry's famous baking.

"Merlin, Rosie, give that back please, sweetheart." Ron was the first to reach his present from Ginny and it was unceremoniously snatched away by his three-year-old daughter.

As Ron reclaimed the present from Rose, everyone else reached the inside of their own parcel.

George was the first to open his, holding up a pair of knitting needles and two balls of purple wool, tied together with a handwritten label. All around the room, her siblings were holding up identical gifts with grins on their faces.

Charlie read the label out loud. _"A Make Your Own Scarf Kit, handmade by Ginny Weasley,"_

* * *

 **Thanks for reading day 8! I loved writing Ginny like this :) coming up on 18th December is 'Ice skating' featuring my fav Slytherin boys again :) check out my tumblr littlerose13writes for the full list of prompts**


	9. Have I Mentioned That I Love You?

_Prompt: ice skating_

 _18th December, 2023_

Scorpius felt incredibly content with life, sat in a compartment on the Hogwarts Express, on the way home for the Christmas holidays, no more Head Boy duties to do until the new year, the prospect of spending tomorrow flying with his father and his boyfriend leaning against him snugly.

Albus suddenly shifted and sat up, delving into his bag and coming back with something in both hands. "I almost forgot! Your Christmas present." He showed Scorpius the gift he'd removed from his bag. "You have to open it now."

Scorpius looked at Albus' green eyes, shining with excitement. "But it's a Christmas present, don't I have to wait until Christmas Day?"

"No, you have to open it right now, here on the train," Albus insisted and pressed the small, red box further into Scorpius' hand.

"Okay." He took the box and inspected it. "Well, it's not heavy enough to be a book, and it's too small to be a new quill."

Albus shook his head at his boyfriend, smiling widely. "It's better than a book or a quill!"

"Is it edible?" Scorpius liked to guess what his presents were before he opened them.

"Nope." Albus shook his head again.

"Can I wear it?" Scorpius rattled the box beside his ear.

"Just open it, Scor."

Scorpius smiled at his excited boyfriend and carefully eased the ribbon off the box, winding it neatly around his fingers and placing it on the seat beside him. Albus hummed impatiently to his right.

"Ooh, is it a-"

"Scorpius!"

"Okay, okay, sorry. I'm opening it now." He gently removed the lid and peered into the top of the box. Inside was a tiny glass ball which gradually levitated out of the box and floated in the air in front of them. Scorpius stared it in wonder and Albus was practically fizzing with excitement beside him.

"Watch, watch," he muttered, his eyes fixed on the glass ball.

The ball glowed and grew bigger until a scene was visible inside of it, almost like looking into a crystal ball. He could see what looked like the skeleton of a huge dinosaur, and a large building with ornate pillars and then two tiny, indistinguishable figures skating across a frozen surface together.

"Is that… _us_?" Scorpius asked, watching the two figures skate together, their hands connected.

"It will be. I'm taking you to the Natural History Museum in London. It's a muggle place but they have a hidden wizarding section, and there's an ice rink at Christmas." Albus was adorably pleased with himself and Scorpius felt emotion and love well up inside him.

"That's a magnificent present, thank you Albus!" He threw his arms around his boyfriend and kissed him on the forehead. Albus adjusted his position so their lips could meet and he kissed Scorpius once then grinned at him.

"By the way, it's tomorrow." Albus kissed him again, drowning out Scorpius' complaint.

His heart sank. Tomorrow he was supposed to spend the day with his dad; they were going to go flying and Draco had been talking about it since the beginning of December.

"Tomorrow? Albus, I don't-"

"Your dad's in on it, I wrote to him. He said he'd make something up to make sure you kept the day free." Albus shrugged.

Scorpius shook his head fondly. "You think of everything," he said, burying his face in Albus' chest as his boyfriend wrapped his arms around him and held him close. "I love you, Al."

Scorpius knew Albus was rolling his eyes lovingly like always but he kissed the top of Scorpius' head and whispered "love you too."

"This thing is incredible too!" Scorpius exclaimed, pulling away from Albus and picking up the gift box, where the glass ball had shrunk back down and returned to the wrapping.

"Isn't it? It's a new _Wheezes_ product for Christmas this year. I helped Uncle George iron out a few problems with it over the summer, it's powered by a potion, see."

Scorpius nodded in understanding and listened intently while Albus explained the ingredients he'd had to adjust to make it work properly.

When they arrived at the platform, they found Scorpius' father waiting with the Potters. As they wished each other farewell, Draco said "see you tomorrow, Albus," with a wink.

"I can't believe you knew," Scorpius shook his head. "Can we still go flying another time?"

"I was hoping you'd say that. How about tonight?"

* * *

They apparated together into a quiet street corner of London, not letting go of each other's hands when they arrived. It was cold enough to snow, but so far no flakes had floated down. Scorpius was wearing a forest green bobble hat which Albus had already stolen from his head twice.

"This is why I _don't_ wear hats," Scorpius complained the second time. Albus just laughed, causing Scorpius to employ his last resort tactic.

He threw his shoulders back and held his head up, so he was walking at his full height. He crept his hand up to pat the top of Albus' own hat, reminding his boyfriend that he was shorter than Scorpius, something Albus _hated_.

Albus scowled up at him. "Okay, sorry, point taken. I'll stop stealing your hat."

Albus' apology was cut off when they rounded a corner and Scorpius spotted the Natural History Museum in front of them. The building was huge, with bigger and grander steps than even Hogwarts castle, but it too had that timeless, magic feeling to it. The sun was setting and the museum silhouetted attractively against the dusky sky, where it was lit tastefully.

"Wow," Scorpius involuntarily squeaked and grabbed Albus' hand in excitement.

"It's quite something isn't it?"

Scorpius turned to Albus in utter delight. "Have I mentioned that I love you?"

"No, Scor. You _never_ tell me that." Albus grinned and pulled Scorpius along. "Skating first, while the sun sets. Then you can get your geek on."

"I don't know which I'm most excited for…"

By the time they arrived at the ice-rink, a few tiny snowflakes had started to flutter from the sky and they nestled themselves into the small amount of Albus' dark hair peeking out of the front of his hat. Scorpius watched them, admiring the way they sparkled like crystals before melting and Albus smiled at him, reaching out to brush a stray snowflake from the tip of Scorpius' nose.

The ticket collector cleared his throat impatiently and both boys jumped, not realising they were next in the queue. Albus handed their tickets over, they were given some kind of entry wristband and they swapped their shoes for ice skates.

"Wow, I feel more awkward than the time I grew eight inches in one summer." Albus stood up experimentally in his skates, slightly unsteady as he balanced on the blade on the solid ground.

"You grew one summer?" Scorpius asked incredulously and Albus shook his head, rolling his eyes at his boyfriend.

"Come on," he said, holding out his hand and pulling Scorpius to his feet. They shuffled to the edge of the ice rink, which was big enough to swallow the people already skating on it. There was a huge Christmas tree in the centre, and its lights gave the whole rink a soft glow.

Scorpius stepped out onto the ice first, gliding easily out a short distance and looking down at his feet, whizzing along smoothly across the ice. The cold air rushed past his cheeks as he looked up and everything sparkled as the ice reflected the many, twinkling lights. Scorpius felt lighter than air as he propelled himself gently forwards a few feet.

He hadn't been skating in years, but the familiar feeling of floating along sparked memories of his childhood, gliding around the frozen lake with his parents either side of him. It had been Astoria who had taught Scorpius to ice skate, holding both his hands gently when he was little, and twirling him round and round when he was a bit older. Scorpius held onto these fond memories, remembering that he could share the experience with somebody else he loved too and turning back to look at Albus. He was still at the edge of the ice, an apologetic look on his face.

"I'm not very good at ice skating. I've only been a couple of times."

Scorpius skated back over to him and leant on the wall of the ice rink. "You'll get it, it's like riding a broom really. You just have to keep your balance."

Albus had been on the house Quidditch team since fifth year as Keeper and he'd helped Slytherin win the Quidditch cup last year. He'd never say it to anyone, but he was a great flyer and Scorpius loved the rare times between NEWT revision when they went flying together.

"Will you show me how?" Albus asked, adjusting his bobble hat with one hand.

Scorpius beamed at his adorable boyfriend. "Of course! Here, hold onto me." He held an arm out and Albus took hold of him, taking a shaky step out onto the ice. When both his feet were firmly on the ice, he stood completely still and held tightly onto Scorpius.

"So, now I just move my feet?" He started a tiny shuffle but the ice exaggerated his movement considerably and his feet skidded back and forth, completely out of his control. Scorpius grabbed him round the waist to stop him falling.

"You need to get used to it a bit first."

Scorpius showed him how to move his feet and keep his balance, and they started a slow lap of the rink. Albus was a quick learner and it didn't take long for them to get into a rhythm, gently gliding around the ice with their arms intertwined.

"Do you want to try by yourself now?" Scorpius asked, even though he was really enjoying the contact between them.

"Maybe you could still hold my hand?" he asked sweetly.

"That's the best idea you've had all day," Scorpius unwound his arms and laced his fingers with Albus'.

"This whole thing was my idea," Albus said indignantly, gesturing to the ice rink.

They skated slowly, gloved hands interlocked, and Albus gradually looking more sure of himself. He turned to Scorpius with a proud grin on his face.

"I think I'm doing it!" He looked down at his feet for a second, then up to their joined hands. "Not that I don't love holding your hand, but can I try by myself?"

Scorpius nodded in understanding and let go of Albus' hand, which he held out to steady himself as they continued to skate slowly together. Scorpius resisted the urge to do a little twirl on the ice.

"This is going surprisingly wel-"

In a heartbeat, Albus went from smiling proudly at Scorpius' side to landing face first on the ice with an almighty crash.

"Sorry! So sorry! Elliot, come back!" A harassed-looking mother appeared from nowhere, pursuing her young son who had just gone careering into Albus' back and knocked him flat down. The little boy looked like he didn't know how to stop himself from skidding around everywhere and, as he whizzed away, his mother followed, casting an apologetic look in Albus' direction.

Scorpius knelt down - a difficult task in ice skates - and held his hand out to Albus. He was face down on the ice, his arms and legs splayed out like a starfish. "Are you okay?"

Albus looked up at Scorpius; his wooly hat had been knocked askew and his dark hair was falling into his eyes. He blew upwards with a grumpy expression, making his fringe flutter away. "Yep," he groaned.

With Scorpius' help, Albus was upright again and clinging to his arm. "Are you sure you're okay? You're not hurt?"

"Other than losing any scrap of dignity I had left, yes I'm okay." Albus waved a hand casually with a grin. "You're not laughing at me."

Scorpius snorted. "I am now I know you're okay."

"Have I mentioned that I love you?"

* * *

 **Thanks for reading day 9! Coming up on 20th December is 'Christmas tradition' featuring my two fav families (Potters and Malfoys in case that wasn't obvious) :) check out my tumblr littlerose13writes for the full list of prompts**


	10. Photographs

_Prompt: A Christmas tradition_

 _21st December, 2011_

"We don't have any recent photos of us with the kids," Mummy sighed, flipping through a photo album with Lily sat on her lap. Albus was sitting next to her and he was looking at the pictures too, with Daddy.

"There's one right there, look." Daddy stuck his finger on a picture while Mummy was still flipping through the pages and she accidentally squished his finger. Sometimes, Mummy did things like that to Daddy and then Daddy looked at her like she was the most special thing in the world and it made Albus feel all happy.

Mummy turned the page back to where Daddy's finger was now trapped. He had picked out a picture of Mummy with her arms round James and Albus, both curled into her side and Lily standing in front of her.

"That's me!" said Lily, pointing herself out proudly. "When I was only three." Albus didn't think she needed to tell everyone something they already knew.

"No, I meant of _us_ ," Mummy moved her hand between her and Daddy to show what she meant. "You took that photo, you're not in it."

Lily continued to turn the pages of the photo album. "Daddy's in this one!"

The photo she pointed to was from the Christmas before when Daddy had received a funny present from Uncle Neville of a set of beard baubles. The photo showed Albus and his siblings happily hanging the decorations from Harry's beard until he looked completely ridiculous. Albus remembered it had been the most fun ever because Daddy had looked like a Christmas tree turned upside-down.

"We should take a photo of all five of us," Mummy persisted. "I can put it on my desk at work."

Mummy's 'desk at work' wasn't something that she liked very much, Albus thought. He often heard Mummy complaining about her desk at work and Daddy suggesting that she did her writing flying around on her broomstick instead. Albus asked if he could come to work with Mummy on her broomstick but Daddy said he was joking.

Maybe if Mummy had a photo of everybody on her desk at work, she would like it more. Just like Albus had a photo of Mummy and Daddy on the wall beside his bed in case he missed them in the night.

"Who's going to take it?" Daddy asked, looking around the room in case a professional photographer might be hiding.

"We'll put one of those self-timer charms on the camera," Mummy replied and she stood up, lowering Lily to the ground. "Lils, how would you like to put your prettiest party dress on and take a photo?"

Lily beamed and abandoned the photo album on the table so she could charge off to her bedroom.

"There, now we have to do it," Mummy said to Daddy. Daddy sighed in the way he always did when Lily asked to be carried somewhere: like he was pretending to be annoyed but he wasn't really.

"What do you mean we have to dress up for a photo, Lily?" James' sulky voice was the first thing Albus heard when they all followed Lily upstairs.

"Dress up? As in a costume?" Albus asked dubiously, thinking maybe he'd misunderstood what was said downstairs.

"No! Dress up in pretty clothes!" Lily cried as if it were obvious. She dashed into her bedroom, leaving Albus feeling bewildered and confused and James looking suspicious and angry.

"I am _not_ wearing dress robes." He folded his arms across his body and scowled.

Dress robes? Nobody had mentioned anything about dress robes but Albus knew how much James didn't like wearing them, which meant he definitely wouldn't like wearing them either. "Me too!" Albus replied, copying his brother's stance.

"Nobody said you had to wear dress robes," Daddy laughed and Albus unfolded his arms, feeling a bit silly. "Mum wants us all to take a photo together next to the Christmas tree."

This seemed to fit better with what Albus had thought was happening and he was struck with a sudden idea. "Oh, can I wear my new dragon t-shirt?" he asked enthusiastically and when Daddy nodded, he ran off to find it. It didn't take long because he knew exactly where it was.

"Do you want to wear your quaffle t-shirt, James?" Daddy was asking when Albus came back.

James shrugged and then considered the question. "Maybe my t-shirt with all the different spells written on it?" he suggested.

"Excellent idea." Daddy nodded and James rushed off.

Daddy tried to help Albus change into his dragon t-shirt, but Albus reminded him that he was four, nearly five, and could get dressed all by himself. He managed it on his own, and when his head popped out of the dragon t-shirt, Mummy was there with one of Albus' least favourite things in her hand and attacking his head. He squirmed away from her.

"Al, please will you just sit still for a second so I can brush your hair." Mummy pleaded with him but he didn't look at her and instead stared grumpily down at the dragon on the front of his top.

"You already did brush my hair. I'm nearly five, I can do it myself." Albus found it so infuriating that they didn't understand he could do everything on his own now easily.

"I give up." Mummy handed Daddy the hairbrush with a noise that sounded like she wasn't going to try anymore. "Harry, that hair is all yours."

Albus knew that Daddy had the hairbrush now, which was better than Mummy having it, but he still eyed Daddy sulkily as he approached him. "Come here, baby boy," he said kindly and Albus felt a rush of annoyance go all the way through his body.

He definitely was not going to go to Daddy if he was calling him the wrong name after Albus asked Mummy and Daddy to never call him that again when he started school. He wasn't a baby boy.

"You're _not_ supposed to call me that anymore!" He folded his arms in frustration and Daddy looked like he had done that time Mummy found out about the secret sweets he kept in the car.

"Sorry, Al. Force of habit. I'm sure my very big and grown up boy can brush his own hair." Harry passed the hairbrush to Albus, who was pleased to be called very big and grown up. "Here, give it your best shot." When Mummy wasn't looking, he put his arm around Al and whispered in his ear. "But we both know it won't make any difference. Just do it for Mummy please."

Albus smiled and accepted the hairbrush.

A short while later, the camera was levitated to hover at the correct height and a self-timing charm had been cast. The family stood in front of the Christmas tree, Daddy with one arm around Mummy and the other around James. Mummy placed her other arm around Albus and Lily too.

"Now what?" Daddy asked as they all stood ready for the camera to flash.

"You have to flick your wand to activate the charm," Mummy explained.

Daddy reached into his back pocket to retrieve his wand, making everyone around him move. As soon as he gripped his hand around it, the camera flashed, taking them all by surprise.

"I wasn't even ready!" Lily cried indignantly.

"Can we go and play now?" James asked hurriedly.

"No, that was a practice. It wasn't supposed to go off until you pointed your wand at it, Harry?"

"This is a very old camera," Daddy muttered. "Let's try again."

This time, Daddy had his wand out ready before they stood in front of the tree facing the camera, which Albus thought he probably should have done in the first place. He pointed it at the camera which flashed green once and Daddy quickly hid his wand behind Mummy's back.

Nothing happened for several seconds.

"Did it work?" James asked with confusion. "It didn't flash."

"This is boring," Albus complained with a sigh while Lily experimentally placed her flower headband on his head and he laughed. He felt like one of the fairies on the Christmas tree but he knew Lily would never let him keep it.

"It's meant to flash. Maybe we need to-"

The camera suddenly flashed brightly even though none of the Potters were ready and Albus was still wearing Lily's hairband when Lily was supposed to wear it for the photo.

"Third time lucky, stay still until it flashes."

Lily reclaimed her hairband and they set up again. Daddy started the timer and they waited patiently for the flash. Lily began to jump up and down with excitement and in the process, bumped into James who loudly complained and stepped backwards right onto Daddy's foot. Daddy yelped in pain, said a word quietly that Albus knew he wasn't allowed to say and staggered backwards, crashing into the Christmas tree and causing it to tip sideways and knock over one of Lily's paper chains.

"My decorations!" Lily wailed.

The camera flashed blindingly and captured the chaos in a photo forever. It took pride of place in the Potter photo album and it was Albus' favourite family photo.

* * *

" _Swish went the broomstick, meow went the cat, plop went the hop-toad sitting on her hat._ "

Scorpius smiled as his mother sang softly while she brushed his blond hair. He was sitting still with his eyes closed, feeling as if he were at the height of relaxation; Scorpius loved it when Mummy brushed his hair. He was wearing his favourite pyjamas, which were patterned with baby dragons.

" _Halloween night when the witches run_." Mummy kissed the top of his head lightly and he opened his eyes.

"Scorpy's turn!" he cried in delight, spinning around and taking the hairbrush from Mummy. She pulled her dark hair over to one side and leaned towards him. Scorpius very gently brushed the tips of her hair as carefully as he could. "You're so beautiful, Mummy."

"You're my beautiful, sweet son." She beamed at him and Scorpius felt like a balloon was blowing up inside his heart.

"Daddy says you're beautiful all the time," Scorpius continued, still brushing her hair. "I think Daddy is beautiful too."

"Did you hear that Draco?" Mummy called over to Daddy. "Scorpius thinks you're beautiful."

Daddy came over to join them and Scorpius immediately climbed onto his lap, reaching around the back of his neck and pulling his ponytail over one shoulder. He brushed it carefully, then sat back to admire the way his dad's silvery hair glistened in the light.

"See? Beautiful," he whispered.

"Thankyou, Scorpius," Daddy laughed a little bit and then he wrapped his arms around Scorpius' small, pyjama-clad body and kissed the top of his shiny hair. Scorpius leaned into him and sighed happily; there was nothing better than a Daddy hug, except maybe a Mummy hug, or a Daddy and Mummy hug.

"Are you going to be wearing your pyjamas for the photo, Scorpius?" Mummy tickled him under the chin and he sat up again, looking down at the dragons printed all over his chest. He glanced at both his parents, who were dressed elegantly, and shook his head.

"I suppose not," he said with a giggle. "Can I wear my robes which are _this_ colour?" He pointed to Mummy's dress, which was a deep blue.

"I think that's a marvellous idea," she smiled and opened Scorpius' wardrobe to find the robes.

When Scorpius was all dressed in his blue robes, they went downstairs to the big Christmas tree with the sparkling star on the top which Scorpius had put there. There was a man there with a big camera but Scorpius had to wait for ages for lots of talking to happen, and then he had to stand and wait for Mummy and Daddy to be ready by the Christmas tree.

"Place one hand on her shoulder," the photographer commanded. "Stand further apart."

Scorpius watched with interest while the photographer bossed his parents around and his Daddy looked the same as he did that time Scorpius found a bunny rabbit digging holes in the garden and tucked it into Mummy and Daddy's bed as a surprise. He didn't think this photographer was doing a very good job.

"Can't I put my arm round her instead? This feels ridiculous." Daddy was definitely not happy with the photographer.

"That's not how I usually take these photos. Just last week, I took Christmas photos at the Goyles and they were very happy with my work."

"No thank you," Mummy said sharply; it was a voice Scorpius only ever heard her use when she was speaking to Grandfather Lucius.

"We'd rather not," Daddy agreed.

"Scorpius, come here, darling." Her voice was kind and soft again and Scorpius didn't hesitate to obey her.

When he was within reach, she wrapped both arms around him and he felt so safe and warm in her embrace. Daddy had his arm around Mummy too and he wondered if Mummy felt just as content as he did. The photographer wasn't very content, and he sighed in annoyance, before eventually picking up his camera.

"Child, stop smiling so much," the photographer said, peering round the side of his camera.

Scorpius felt Mummy's arms stiffen around him and his face fell. "Please don't speak to my son like that," she said calmly. "Scorpius has a lovely smile and I'd quite like it to be in the photograph if that's quite alright with you."

The photographer muttered something Scorpius couldn't understand but which made Daddy stand up very straight and squeeze one of his hands like he was holding a wand that wasn't there. "If this is going to be a problem, we will gladly take our business elsewhere."

Scorpius didn't know if he had a business, but if Daddy and Mummy were going to take their business somewhere else, he thought he should probably take his there too.

The photographer suddenly did a very thin-lipped smile which didn't reach his eyes one bit. "Of course not, Mr Malfoy. No problems, only suggestions."

Scorpius thought that the photographer sounded like he was pretending he'd eaten all his vegetables, when really he'd put some on Daddy's plate when he wasn't looking.

"Smile, Scorpius," said Daddy, giving Scorpius' shoulder a gentle squeeze. This was what he did when he was cross but he wanted Scorpius to know he wasn't cross with him. Daddy was hardly ever cross with Scorpius because he was the best Daddy ever and Scorpius always tried so hard to be a good boy.

Spurred on by Daddy's shoulder squeeze, Scorpius did the biggest smile he could, which wasn't hard when he was in his favourite place: right in between Mummy and Daddy.

The camera flashed so brightly, it made Scorpius blink lots to try and get rid of the stars he could see under his eyes. They weren't like the stars in the sky, which Scorpius had seen through the telescope and Daddy had shown him the star that was called Scorpius too. These starts hurt his eyes and made him want to hide his face in Mummy's dress.

"Does it have to be that bright?" Mummy asked, and she looked like she was a bit worried about Scorpius.

The photographer nodded and did it again, this time making even more stars in Scorpius' eyes. He wasn't really enjoying this very much anymore and he reached into his pocket to give Chog (his favourite toy) a squeeze to make himself feel better. Mummy saw and she helped Scorpius pull Chog all the way out of his pocket so he was sitting on Scorpius' lap.

"What is that? Remove it." The photographer was looking at Chog too but not in the nice, kind way that Mummy was.

"Astoria, do you want to take Scorpius upstairs with you, maybe he can help you find our own camera? I think we've finished here." Daddy was speaking very quietly, in a voice that Scorpius had never ever heard him speak in before and one which made him sound frightening, like Grandfather Lucius.

Scorpius held Mummy's hand all the way back upstairs, even though he was five now and he didn't always need to.

"Is Daddy cross with that man?" Scorpius whispered, because he knew Mummy would tell him the truth.

"Yes, I think he is. That man wasn't very kind to you, was he?"

Scorpius considered her question and realised she was absolutely right. "He wasn't kind! He was very, very _unkind_. And that is the worst thing you can be, isn't it Mummy!"

Mummy always told Scorpius that being kind was the most important thing to be, because you could always turn sad to happy by showing kindness, whether it was you who was sad or somebody else. Being _unkind_ would make you more sad, and it would make other people sad too, and Scorpius knew _unkind_ was the worst thing to be.

"I think it is," Mummy agreed with him.

"Was that man _unkind_ to Daddy too?" Scorpius asked, feeling a bit confused. "Is that why he's angry?"

"He was unkind to you, Scorpius, and that makes Daddy angry because Daddy loves you so much."

Scorpius imagined loving somebody so much that he would feel angry if they had unkind things said to them. He thought of the people he loved the most: Mummy and Daddy. He'd never considered it before, but he thought that he would be angry if somebody was unkind to Mummy or Daddy.

Mummy opened an old-looking box and took out a camera, like the one which belonged to the unkind photographer. "We're going to take our own photo, with this camera, where everybody is kind."

This sounded like a much better idea to Scorpius.

* * *

 **Anyone's teeth rotted away? Sorry, one day I will write something with an actual plot, one day... Thanks for reading day 10! Only two Shipmas fics tongo :( prong up on 22nd December is 'Christmas play' featuring little Potters and muggle primary school :) check out my tumblr littlerose13writes for the full list of prompts**


	11. Muggle Observations

_Prompt: Christmas play/nativity_

 _14th December, 2014_

The school hall of Ridge Oak Primary was darker than usual, and packed with people sat on rows of chairs. Children's artwork decorated every wall leading up to a stage set up at the front of the hall. Music played somewhere beneath the loud chatter and Arthur Weasley was bouncing up and down in his seat with excitement.

"Amazing, fascinating, ingenious these muggles."

"Dad, shh," Ginny reminded him. "You can't keep saying that in here."

"But look! That thing," he pointed to the projector on the ceiling, "is shining light so brightly, it's making a picture on that wall!"

He was speaking in the tone of voice one would expect from a three-year-old explaining what they could see around them. A man in the row in front turned around and gave Arthur a strange look. Ginny smiled and patted her father's shoulder.

"Dad, write it down instead."

Arthur nodded and withdrew a small notebook and muggle pen from his pocket. It was his _Muggle Observations_ book which Ginny had bought for him for moments just like this. He used it to write down everything he noticed which interested him so that he could discuss it at length with whoever would listen.

Molly tutted and shook her head at her husband, but Ginny saw her looking at the projector in interested disbelief.

Ginny always brought her parents to anything the kids did at school, not only because Arthur was ecstatic to be in the muggle primary school, but because Molly also took great delight in watching her grandchildren grow up. The Christmas nativity was a particular highlight for her, although Ginny and Harry were apprehensive about it this year.

If they could just get through the whole thing without Lily doing accidental magic (which happened when she was excited), they could breathe easily.

"Look, Gin." Harry tapped her on the shoulder and pointed down at a page in the programme they'd been given on the way in. It read _Ridge Oak Primary School Nativity 2014_ on the front and contained several photographs inside.

The picture Harry was pointing at was of Lily's year two class sat in rows and singing. Every child was sat with their legs crossed, singing sweetly, until the very end of the row where Lily was. She too sat with her legs crossed neatly, but wasn't looking at the camera and had instead thrown her head back with the exuberance of her singing.

"Thank Merlin they didn't give her a solo singing part," Ginny grinned at her husband.

"I thought they did? She told me she was Angel Gabriel?" Harry looked confused and flicked to the cast list at the front of the programme. Next to the part of Angel Gabriel was the name of a girl in James' class; definitely _not_ Lily Potter.

"And you believed our six-year-old daughter?"

"How can you tell when she's making things up?" Harry looked crestfallen.

"How can you _not_?" Ginny was laughing at her husband, who their daughter had firmly wrapped around her little finger.

"I think it's starting," Molly said, shushing them and settling to face the stage.

The lights in the school hall had dimmed and a spotlight shone down on a microphone to the side of the stage. A child stepped up to it and started to speak. Molly looked around agitatedly.

"Where's James?" she hissed. "I thought he was the narrator."

"There are a few narrators, Mum," Ginny gently leant over her father to address her mother. Molly pursed her lips as if it wasn't at all acceptable for anybody other than her grandchildren to be on the stage.

The narrator who wasn't James finished speaking and the show started. To the side of the stage, Lily's whole class could be seen sitting ready to sing.

While the children were all singing and Mary and Joseph wandered around the school hall on a hobby horse designed to look like a donkey, Lily spotted her parents in the audience. She didn't stop singing but she waved enthusiastically, nearly poking the little boy next to her in the eye.

"Ironic that Lily was cast as an angel," Ginny whispered into Harry's ear as he watched her singing in her little angel costume. (A generic angel, not the lead role of Angel Gabriel she'd told Harry was hers.)

As they both watched their daughter sing, there was a moment when they both froze. Lily's tinsel halo had started to levitate above her head, slowly rising up and away from her red hair. Their biggest worry was happening right in front of them.

"Is she… doing magic?" Harry hissed in horror as the halo rose higher. A child sat behind Lily had their eyes locked on in wonder.

"She's excited about singing, oh Merlin make it stop!" Ginny kept her voice at a whisper but was internally panicking. The song went on and Lily's halo was still hovering, completely disconnected from her head.

A few seats down from Lily was her teacher, Miss Emerson, who through a surprising turn of events, was well aware that the Potters were magical. She too had spotted Lily's levitating halo and reached out to quickly grab it and lower it back down to Lily's head. With the halo firmly held in place by her hand, Miss Emerson scanned the crowd for Harry and Ginny, shooting them a grin.

Ginny gave her a grateful look and Harry mouthed thank you across the hall.

"That was a close one," Ginny muttered, keeping her eyes firmly locked on Lily.

The song finished and everybody clapped. James stepped up to the microphone and sought his parents out in the audience. He caught Harry's eye and grinned widely, pressing his lips just a bit too close to the microphone and creating a muffled sound.

"Mary and Joseph travelled many miles to Bethlehem on a donkey," he spoke confidently, as if he were announcing the lineup of a show.

"Look at Albus," Ginny whispered and pointed out their second son to the side of the stage, dressed as a shepherd and holding a toy sheep. He was sat with the other shepherds in what was supposed to be a freeze frame, except Albus' lips were moving as he mouthed all of James' words along with him. Harry grinned at her and shook his head fondly.

"They needed to find somewhere to stay, so they asked some innkeepers if there was room."

"What is he doing with his hands?" Arthur asked from Ginny's other side.

"Signing. There are two hard of hearing children in this school." Arthur nodded and looked back at James, who was continuing to tell the story of Mary and Joseph being turned away by the innkeepers.

"A kind innkeeper let them stay in his stable, because he had no room." James smiled around and stepped down from the microphone and back into his space next to the other narrators.

"Look, an angel!" Albus delivered his line perfectly, which was no surprise considering he'd practised it every night at the dinner table between mouthfuls. The child who had actually been cast as the Angel Gabriel started to walk onto the stage.

There was a silent pause.

The girl beside Albus was staring at him with wide eyes. Albus looked at her pointedly. Nothing happened.

Over to the side of the stage, Miss Emerson was holding a script and watching the girl on the stage, looking like she was ready to jump in with the line any second.

Albus whispered something to the girl and her expression cleared. "Something terrible must have happened!" the girl exclaimed, spoiling the sentiment slightly by smiling at Albus.

The children all started to sing _While Shepherds Watched Their Flocks By Night_ and thankfully, Lily didn't seem to be as excited by this song and kept the accidental magic under control from what Harry and Ginny could see.

"Look, its James again!" Molly whispered unnecessarily loudly. "Arthur, get the camera out again."

Ginny pointedly avoided the confused stares of the people further down the row who had been taking photos of their children on a mobile phone, and were eyeing the large and old-fashioned looking (secretly magic) camera with fascination.

James confidently approached the microphone and told the audience how three wise men from the east followed a star to find the baby Jesus. There was more singing as children dressed as wise men walked through the middle of the audience, following another child holding up a big, silver star. The star was handed to James, who held it up proudly to say his next line.

"Jesus was born, and angels sent from heaven surrounded the stable."

Lily's class filed neatly onto the stage and Harry waved at their daughter, who gave him a big smile but also an expression that made it clear she was far too professional to wave back now she was on stage. There was another song, which Lily sang enthusiastically and Harry and Ginny crossed their fingers tightly throughout.

The song came to an end, and James went to speak again, but as he did, the star he was holding began to sparkle and glow as if it were alive with fairy dust. James stared at it in surprise, indicating he wasn't aware this was going to happen. Similarly, a teacher behind him was rubbing the lenses of his glasses and staring in disbelief at the ethereal star.

"What amazing special effects!" somebody in the row behind commented.

Ginny took one look at Lily's beam and shining eyes and she slid as far down in her seat as was socially acceptable. Harry had his head in one hand, an anguished look on his face.

James, while still blown away by the object in his hand, continued to say his lines, sounding only a little bit uncertain. Albus was looking between the star and his little sister, having worked out what was going on. He nudged Lily lightly and she turned around to smile at him too. He mouthed stop at her but she didn't seem to understand him.

Albus' intervention seemed to have distracted Lily enough that the star's glow slowly diminished. Ginny was more than relieved, as she'd been having visions of the star beginning to levitate away from James.

The nativity came to an end and everyone clapped until the hall became a bustle of chatting parents and teachers. Nearly everyone was commenting on the 'impressive finale', and even Molly and Arthur hadn't instantly recognised it had been their granddaughter's accidental magic. When they did, they were smiling proudly.

"Well done my babies," Ginny stood up to receive James and Albus, who had reached them first. They allowed her to hug them both, even though James groaned at being called a baby.

"Did you see what Lil did?" Albus asked breathlessly. "Will she be in trouble? I don't think she did it on purpose."

"Oh! That was Lily!" A look of understanding passed over James' face and he shrugged. "It was cool."

"She's not in trouble, it was an accident. Just unfortunate timing," Ginny muttered to reassure Albus as Lily came running over to them, throwing herself into Harry's arms.

"I did it, Daddy! I was an angel." Harry picked her up.

"Was that very exciting, being on stage?" he asked his daughter.

"Oh yes!" Lily's eyes were shining.

"We all noticed how excited Lily was," Ginny said fondly, looking around at her family who were gazing at Lily in amusement.

"You dropped your halo, Lily." Miss Emerson appeared at Harry's shoulder to reunite Lily with her halo. She smiled round at the family. "That certainly livened things up. I'll put Lily on props next year." She winked and left them to greet some other parents.

"Did you see the star, Daddy?" Lily whispered into Harry's ear. "Don't tell anyone, but I think it might have been _magic_."

* * *

 **Thanks for reading part 11! I'm so sad there's only one day of Shipmas left :( come say hi on tumblr littlerose13writes, I think I want to start taking prompts in the new year, this has been fun! Coming up on Christmas Eve it's 'It's Christmas eve and you're not here?' with** **some major Hinny feels :** )


	12. Mission Successful

_Prompt: It's Christmas Eve and you're not here?_

24th December, 2009

"Mummy, Jamesy says it's Christmas Eve today. Is it really?"

Ginny turned around at Al's little voice, momentarily looking away from feeding Lily, and noticing that he'd picked all of the blueberries out of his pancake and left them on the side of his plate. "James is right, today is Christmas Eve."

"See, Al. I told you." James drank some pumpkin juice smugly.

"But today _can't_ be Christmas Eve," Albus persisted, ignoring his brother.

"Why can't it?" Ginny asked, grabbing Lily's last slice of banana before she squished it into her hair.

"Because Daddy isn't home yet," he stated factually and Ginny's heart sank. "He's been gone for _ages_."

"Daddy left on Saturday, today is Thursday. That's five days." Ginny tried to pretend she was just practising the days of the week with her younger son, and didn't think about how this was supposed to be a two day Auror mission.

"Will he be home today?" James asked the one question Ginny didn't have an answer to.

"I hope so, sweetheart."

James' face fell. "You _hope_ so? So he might not be home today?" His lip trembled and his eyes filled up with tears.

"Is Daddy gonna miss Christmas?" Albus voiced everybody's biggest fear in the inquisitive way only a three-year-old can manage. As he spoke, he turned to James with a scared expression and saw that his brother was crying. This seemed to confirm the worst for Albus and he began to cry too.

"Daddy!" Lily cried desperately, and she started to cry, because that was just what Ginny needed in that moment. She honestly felt like joining her three children in their sobbing fest.

"It's not fair!" James bolted from the breakfast table and over to the window seat, where he buried his face in the cushions and sobbed. Albus took one look back at Ginny and followed his brother at top speed, throwing himself down right beside James in equal misery.

Ginny sighed, looking up towards the ceiling. This was not going to plan at all; things never did when Harry was on a mission.

"Jamesy Awbus cwy," Lily observed, still sniffing herself. She wasn't really old enough to know it was Christmas but she was able to understand that Daddy wasn't there and hadn't been for a few days.

"Let's cheer them up, Lily-Lu." Ginny unintentionally borrowed Harry's nickname for their daughter and picked her up. If Lily thought this was strange, she didn't show it.

"No cwy Jamesy Awbus." Lily toddled over and roughly patted both her brothers on the back.

"I got sad stuck in me," Albus explained to her, lifting his head from the cushions. James just continued to wail.

Ginny opened her arms out and Albus fell into them instead of the cushions where he continued to cry. "We've all got some sad stuck in us today, Al. Maybe we can help each other get the sad out?"

"Yeah!" Albus agreed triumphantly.

James joined the group hug. "How do we get the sad out?"

"Hello, it's Christmas Eve! We have the best Christmas Eve ever." Ginny put on an excellent imitation of a bright and positive person. "Starting by flying in the garden in our pyjamas!"

It was a cheap trick, to distract the kids with something like a pyjama fly, which they hardly ever did. But if it kept her children happy, at least for now, Ginny was willing to try every cheap trick in the book.

At five, James was old enough to have his own training broom which rose to about three feet. Being a smaller baby, Ginny could still wear Lily on her chest, and Albus was able to perch in front of her on her own broom and she could keep him safe. Not that Ginny would be flying any higher than three feet anyway, only one Potter parent needed to be in danger right now.

Don't think about that.

Pyjama flying kept them going for forty five minutes before Lily got too cold to stay outside any longer.

"I don't _want_ to go inside yet!" James complained and Ginny thought fast.

"You don't want to come inside and play Bubble Ball?"

Bubble Ball was another activity that rarely happened in the Potter household but when it did, it was the biggest treat ever. There were no rules or even skills to Bubble Ball, just that Ginny used her wand to conjure large, everlasting bubbles which the children batted around the room to general delight. After a good few bats, the bubble would pop and rainbow sparks would rain down over the person who popped it, at which point the children would all shout bubble ball!

Bubble Ball lasted until lunch, Lily was exhausted and Ginny thought she could definitely get away with putting Albus down for a nap with her too. She decided she was correct, when he nodded off into his lunch, waking with a start with his fringe covered in tomato soup. She knew she'd have to give him a bath and wash his hair later, but maybe Harry might be back by then, Ginny felt herself childishly hoping.

With the two youngest asleep, Ginny cleared up from lunch while James coloured at the table. His artwork was abstract at best and the helpful accompanying written explanations did nothing to clarify what he had drawn ever. She sat down with him and drew a big Weasley jumper picture and coloured it in with as many different colours as possible, James helping her towards the end when he'd finished his own picture.

"What do you think, James, shall we show this to Grandma Molly tomorrow for her next design?"

James nodded and laughed. "I think she should make it for Uncle Percy! He would look great."

Ginny smiled proudly and caught sight of James' own picture, which contained lots of squiggles, a few recognisable letters, several smiley faced, stick-bodied people, and his own name printed at the bottom. "What did you draw, James?"

"I wrote a letter to Father Christmas," James explained. "Shall I read it to you?"

Ginny was very glad he hadn't asked her to read it out loud and become upset when she couldn't read out exactly what he'd meant to write like last time. "Yes please, Jamesy."

"Dear Father Christmas, I know I already wroted to you a long time ago, but I wanted to say a few changes to my first letter please. First, don't worry about the new broom. You can give it to Al if you already got it. Second, you don't have to put anything in my stocking this year.

There's only one thing I really want for Christmas, and I know you can make it happen. Please, for Christmas, I would like my Daddy to come home and never go away again. Thanks Father Christmas. From James."

His eyes skimmed vaguely over the squiggles as he clearly made the words up as he went. The sentiment was clear though and it made Ginny's heart ache.

"That's… a very nice letter, James. Why don't you put it at the fireplace so Father Christmas can collect it from the chimney? I'm going to get your brother and sister from their nap."

She didn't go straight to the children's bedrooms, instead taking a quick stop in her and Harry's room, which she'd had to herself for five days now. It was starting to feel cold and empty compared to the rest of the house.

Ginny didn't mind that Harry's job took him away like this from time to time. She'd known when she married him that she was hardly signing up for a quiet life, and that hadn't changed just because they'd had three children. There was just something about it being Christmas Eve that made it all the more painful to be away from him.

The head of the Department of Magical Law Enforcement (Harry's boss) updated her regularly with enough information to know Harry was alive, wherever he was, and would be home as soon as they could spare him. She unfolded the last letter she'd received, the night before, simply confirming he was safe and with the hope that it would be the end of the mission, then a reminder that she couldn't contact him directly without compromising his safety.

"It's Christmas Eve, and you're not here," she whispered to herself, clutching the small pendant necklace Harry had bought for her birthday which she never took off.

A cry from Lily's room brought her back to her senses and she went to retrieve her daughter, who cheered up immensely when she saw Ginny, and was chattering away happily to her about a dream she'd had involving a yoocorn. This was quite the contrast to Albus, who was sleeping so peacefully, it broke Ginny's heart to wake him, but he'd never sleep at night if she didn't. When she leant over and stroked his back to wake him up, he scowled at her and threw a leg out, kicking Ginny in the head in the process.

"Ow," Ginny muttered, gingerly leaning back over to try again. This time he let her pick him up, but he wasn't happy about it and he miserably nuzzled into her neck, his hair all scratchy where it had soup dried in it that hadn't scourgified out.

Ginny had reached her last resort and settled the children in front of the rarely-used television with a muggle film. Albus refused to leave her side which meant James and Lily were equally clingy, but it was rather nice to snuggle with all three of her kids at the same time.

It was dark by the time the film ended, and Ginny realised some small part of her had been convinced that Harry would be back by the time it was over. It was getting closer to the time each day where she tended to receive an owl informing her that Harry was still safe but the mission was taking longer than they thought and Ginny's heart sank. She gave the children dinner but was unable to eat anything herself, her stomach churning with anxiety and disappointment.

She pushed the feelings to one side and focused on giving the children a bath instead, managing to pass off all three of them sharing as an amazing treat rather than because she didn't know what else to do. Things were fairly peaceful, Lily passing a floating giant squid toy back and forth with Albus, while Ginny washed the tomato soup out of his hair. James broke the peace in a heartbeat only minutes later when Ginny was combing conditioner through Albus' dark hair.

"Don't worry, Lily. I wroted to Father Christmas and asked him to bring Daddy home tonight. He might even be here already." He spoke very sincerely to his little sister, playing with a handful of bubbles and making her laugh. Lily hadn't listened to what he'd said at all, but Albus had.

"Daddy's home! Can we go and see him now?" He tried to pull himself up on the edge of the bath but in his haste, slipped sideways and fell backwards into the bath water, where Ginny quickly caught him before his head went under. It scared him and he didn't move, gripping onto Ginny's arms.

"Jamesy, you know Father Christmas will try his best to bring Daddy home for Christmas," Ginny started gently, setting Albus upright and rinsing his combed hair with her wand. "But I don't think he's home just yet."

She hadn't received an owl yet, but she also knew it was too good to be true that Harry would be waiting for them downstairs.

"But he's _Father Christmas_. He can do anything!"

"I want Daddy!" Albus added.

Ginny was rapidly running out of distraction techniques.

"Why don't we go and hang your stockings by the fireplace?"

James gave her a reproachful look like he knew exactly what she was doing, but it worked on Albus, who pushed his wet hair away from his eyes and beamed, and Lily reached her arms up, asking to be taken out of the bath.

Ginny dried Albus' hair with her wand while James helped Lily put her pyjamas on, his own pyjamas especially adorable with a pattern of Hippogriffs wearing Christmas jumpers. Albus had a matching set which he begged Ginny to find once his hair was dry.

"Here's mine!" Albus said, holding up a Christmas stocking with his name on when they were downstairs and by the fireplace. "I'll find yours too, Lily."

Only James had remembered what he'd said in the bath, and he looked around the empty living room in disappointment. Ginny placed her arm around his shoulders and gave him a squeeze. "Let's hang your stocking, Jamesy."

"Okay," James sighed, unenthusiastically.

With four stockings in her hand (one was for Teddy, who would be coming over before they all went to The Burrow), Ginny levitated each one to hang on the mantelpiece. Albus watched her delightedly cross-legged on the ground like it was a show, with Lily sat on his lap. James stood, looking very small with his arms folded.

Instead of hanging them straight up, Ginny made the stockings whizz around the room, floating past the children and skimming Albus' fluffy hair (Ginny never had got the hang of drying it with her wand the way Harry did). James reluctantly smiled and let out a tiny laugh when his own stocking span round his head.

They left a plate beside the fireplace, with a mince pie for Father Christmas and a carrot for Rudolph. It sat beside James' heart-wrenching letter. Lily yawned widely and Ginny took all three children up to bed, putting Lily down while the boys brushed their teeth. She left James finishing off his teeth while she read Albus a story and he fell asleep.

James, however, was not in his bedroom or the bathroom when Ginny came to tuck him in. She had a suspicion as to where he might be instead, and sure enough, a snuffling noise gave away his hiding place under the Christmas tree downstairs.

"James, come on. Your brother's already asleep and it's past your bedtime."

"No, I'm waiting here for Daddy to come home." His voice was muffled by branches.

"Father Christmas won't be able to leave you any presents if you're not in bed," she gently coaxed.

"I don't care, I want Daddy more than presents."

"Jamesy, come out now please." He noticed the change in her tone and slowly crawled out, tears on his face. She scooped him up and cradled him to her like he was a baby again and he clung right back. "I want Daddy to come home too, more than anything, and he will come home very soon. Maybe in time for Christmas Day, maybe not. I promise, we'll have Christmas Day with Daddy, even if we have to make our own Christmas Day when he's home."

James listened to all of this and allowed Ginny to rock him gently while she spoke. Out of the corner of her eye, Ginny noticed an owl swooping towards the kitchen window. She shifted James so he was sat on her hip, walked him to the kitchen, retrieved the letter from the Department of Magical Law Enforcement and placed it unopened on the table - she would read it after James was in bed; she knew what it said anyway.

Lily was sleeping soundly in her bedroom, Albus' bedroom was also silent but James was sobbing noisily into his pillow, and no amount of singing or hair stroking was doing anything to help. Ginny felt her own breath catch in her throat at the sight of her heartbroken son.

"What will make you feel better, Jamesy? How can Mummy help?" She would have been surprised if he was able to articulate what he needed in that moment, but he considered her question.

"Can I sleep in your bed with you?" he asked innocently.

Ginny reached out and pulled him in close for a hug. "Of course, sweetheart."

James smiled and crawled out of bed, following Ginny into the master bedroom. The bed was unmade and a snuffling sound was coming faintly from somewhere in the middle. Ginny suspected she knew the source of the snuffling, and sure enough, when she gently lifted the duvet up, Al's small figure was curled up at the foot of the bed. His face was red from crying and his hair sticking up at all angles. He looked relieved to see his mum.

"I'm too sad to sleep by myself," he whispered and it was the most gut-wrenching sentence he could have possibly said in that moment.

James wriggled his way into the bed and curled up on one side, while Ginny picked Albus up and smoothed his hair back into place as best she could. "Looks like I'm going to have both my boys with me tonight."

Albus snuggled against James, who threw one arm loosely around his brother. For all their squabbling, they really did love each other so much and in that moment, Ginny knew the two of them completely understood how the other was feeling. It was enough for them both to feel safe enough to fall asleep under Ginny's loving gaze.

She kissed both their foreheads, and crept from the room to set up the living room for the morning. The little presents she and Harry had bought for the children fitted neatly into their stockings; the bigger presents they'd written to Father Christmas for sat waiting patiently by the Christmas tree; she took a bite out of the mince pie; everything was as perfect as it could be, without Harry there.

The boys were still sleeping when Ginny quietly got ready for bed and joined them, their tiny bodies warm as they curled up around her. It had been an emotionally exhausting day, and tomorrow would be no easier, but for now she needed sleep.

She dreamt of crying children who she couldn't reach. It was as if she were rooted to the spot, unable to move, even though she really wanted to. She heard James sobbing mournfully and Albus crying softly, Lily wailing and even Teddy bursting into tears.

"Jamesy, wake up! Father Christmas is downstairs. I can hear him walking around," Albus hissed at his brother. Ginny blinked in the darkness, realising she wasn't dreaming and remembering she had her boys with her, but Albus didn't seem to be crying. "I'm going to see if I can see him!"

Before Ginny could process what was going on, the bed shifted and a little shape wriggled off and whizzed from the room, clattering down the stairs excitedly.

"Oh Merlin, no. Albus!" Ginny muttered to herself, pulling her body out of the bed where James was stirring too.

"Al, wait for me!" James cried and he too rolled out of bed and dashed off.

The thundering footsteps down the stairs courtesy of James woke Lily up and she was crying loudly from her bedroom. Ginny stood on the landing, torn between retrieving her sons and going to Lily. Lily's cries were distressed and panicked, so she chose to go there first, picking her up and rocking her while simultaneously walking downstairs.

"Was it really him? I heard him in the fireplace! I did!"

"It was him! Our stockings are full, we missed him!"

"Did his reindeer eat the carrot?"

Damn. The carrot. Ginny knew she'd forgotten to do something.

"Yes! Look, it's all nibbled."

Brilliant, they had mice.

"Mummy, Father Christmas has been!" Albus announced when he saw her, then he spotted the stern look on her face and remembered he wasn't supposed to be out of bed. "Oops."

"He took my letter, he took it up the chimney with him!" James was so excited. "That means he's read it and he can bring Daddy home!"

"Daddy!" Lily echoed her brother.

Ginny didn't know what she had done to deserve such an emotionally taxing Christmas Eve.

"Daddy!" Lily cried again, more insistently.

"You'll see Daddy soon, petal," Ginny soothed, not really wanting Lily to be awake for much longer. Lily herself had other ideas and squirmed violently to be put down, which Ginny hardly had time to argue against.

She ran to the fireplace where James was peering up, looking for Father Christmas. "Daddy shoes!" she insisted.

Albus spotted what Lily was looking at before Ginny did. "Daddy's shoes are here. Why are Daddy's shoes here? Unless…" A look of understanding passed over his face.

"Daddy's home!" James yelled at the same time as Albus cried "our Daddy is Father Christmas!"

Ginny's heart felt lighter than air as she joined all three of her children in rushing into the kitchen and barrelling straight into Harry. He was there, really there, standing in the kitchen, his arms round her tightly, pressing kisses all over her and the children.

"You're home," Ginny breathed into his shoulder as he held her tight with one arm, the other wrapped around all three of their children.

"I'm sorry, Ginny. I had no idea, I wanted to come home sooner. I'm so sorry." He sounded erratic and exhausted.

"Don't be sorry, we're just glad you're home." She hugged him tightly again. "Was it you who got the carrot?"

Harry pulled away and winked at her. He knelt down to the children's level and they threw themselves into his arms. "I missed you all so much, I love you."

"Daddy!" Lily cried happily, clamouring to be picked up.

"I love you, Daddy," Albus buried his face into the crook of Harry's neck.

"I wroted to Father Christmas and asked him to bring you home and he did," James explained.

At the risk of being knocked over backwards by the excitable Potter children, Harry diverted them to the window seat James and Albus had sobbed into that morning. Lily perched on his lap and James and Albus curled into an arm each. Harry reached around Albus and held Ginny's hand, although of course she didn't mind their children getting all the space.

"We've had the best Christmas Eve ever when you wasn't here!" James gushed about their pyjama fly, with some major exaggeration about how high his broomstick had been.

"Then we played Bubble Ball and Lily won," Albus continued. "And I falled asleep in my soup so Mummy had to wash my hair again, even though she already did wash my hair yesterday."

"Is that right?" Harry nodded with raised eyebrows, ruffling Albus' hair, then shared an understanding glance with Ginny. "It sounds like Mummy's had the best Christmas Eve ever too."

"It just got much better," Ginny said, squeezing Harry's hand.

"But guess what, Daddy? Father Christmas has been and he put presents under our tree and in our stockings!"

"He did? How exciting!" Harry pretended to be shocked, realising Lily had fallen asleep on his lap and pulling her closer to him so she was comfortable.

"Can we open presents now it's Christmas and Daddy's home?" James asked hopefully.

In that moment, Ginny and Harry both realised they'd lost their big ace card for getting the kids to sleep tonight, because Father Christmas has already been and no threat of him not coming until they were asleep just wasn't going to cut it.

"How about a big sleepover in Mummy and Daddy's bed?" Ginny suggested, hoping this would distract James. Harry half raised his eyebrows in question and she muttered "that's how I've got through today," in response.

Harry carried Lily from the room, with Albus riding on his back and James at his heels. As they passed the kitchen table, the Potter family didn't notice the letter from the ministry owl flutter to the floor and fall from its envelope. The letter inside was not the one Ginny had thought it would be; instead, it was much shorter and brought better news.

 _Mission successful. He's coming home_.

 **Thats it, the final part of Shipmas! Thanks to everyone who read these fics and Merry Christmas! I've loved** **writing to a prompt so if you want to send me more prompts, come and say hi on tumblr littlerose13writes** :)


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